Cover You
by Athenian Grace
Summary: "She slowly waved the can between the pair, daring them to follow her, before turning on her heel and sprinting towards the port-a-potties outside." Had Rachel been the one to find Puck. AU from Special Education
1. Chapter 1

**Summary****: "She slowly waved the can between the pair, daring them to follow her, before turning on her heel and sprinting towards the port-a-potties outside." Had Rachel been the one to find Puck. AU from Special Education**

**Friends**

"Still can't get over the stupid look on his face."

Rachel scrambled away from the piano and pressed herself against the whiteboard when she heard Dave Karofsky and Azimio Adams' laughter advancing down that hall. The start to her week had been horrendous, and with her solos _and _her boyfriend rapidly slipping away from her, the last thing she needed was to cross paths with her tormenters. She said a silent prayer, hoping that she would be spared this time around. Rachel stopped breathing when she heard their footsteps pause at the door.

"I can't believe he tried to get us to join the gay parade."

"Well, he's getting his lesson for it, the fag." She flinched at the tone in Dave's voice, and bit back her desire to confront the homophobe. "Right about now, Puckerman's probably passing out from the smell alone."

Rachel's jaw dropped in horror.

She wasn't blind. After being publicly humiliated amongst her peers by Santana Lopez, it was blatantly obvious that no one in the glee club really liked her, but Puck was different. Despite his silence during the earlier catfight, she knew that they had some sort of friendship with each other. She stared at her bag just a few inches away from her. There was pink can of pepper spray stuffed in the front pocket. Knowing, or at least hoping, that Puck would do the same for her, she lunged for her bag, swiftly pulled the small, bedazzled weapon out and pointed it at the boys still standing in the doorway. They stepped back as she ran them back and into the lockers.

"Woah, Berry just calm-!"

"Where's Noah and what did you do to him?" she demanded, her shaking finger threatening to press down on the trigger.

"Dude, is that pepper spray?" Azimio questioned disbelievingly.

She gave him a tight nod in response. "My daddies have been pretty sick of watching me come home in a state of 'modern day tar and feathering.' I have a thicker skin than they imagine so I haven't found a reason to use it." Rachel thrust it forward and felt a sick pleasure when she saw their eyes squeeze shut in fear. A burst of confidence fueled her forward as she relished finally having power over her bullies. "Until now that is. Now where is he?"

They didn't answer her.

"So help whatever your puny little skulls, if someone doesn't talk in one-point-five seconds, I will make you _eat _this," she sneered.

"P-port-o-john," Karofsky managed to stammer.

She slowly waved the can between the pair, daring them to follow her, before turning on her heel and sprinting towards the port-a-potties outside. Her heart hammered against her rib cage at the thought of what Puck must have been going through. It took all her balance not to fall over when she burst through the doors and scanned the area in front of her. None of the ones lined up under the bleachers were toppled over. Rachel was about to storm back in and rip them apart for lying to her when she heard a ruckus coming from around the corner.

A loud but weak "help!" followed by slow bangs sent her racing in its direction.

"Noah!" she cried when she saw the grey box lying on its side.

"Berry?"

It was muffled compared to his previous shouts, but the sound of his voice made her huff a quick breath of relief. "Oh god, Noah! Are you okay?"

"Berry?! Oh hell, please, _please _don't leave me in here!"

She frowned. Did he really think her capable of being that vengeful? Rachel examined the broom shoved into the lock, effectively blocking his exit. "Don't worry, Noah! I'm getting you out of there." With one smooth move, she pulled it out, tossed it behind her and threw the door open.

Puck looked up from his crouched position, squinting at the harsh sunlight. She gasped at his appearance. The jock was drenched with sweat, the jogging pants and hoodie he was wearing making him look even more haggard.

"Oh, Noah," she cooed, a gentleness in her tone as though she were beckoning an injured puppy to her. Rachel reached in and helped him out. She gingerly avoided touching the soiled areas of his clothing but when he dropped to the ground, rubbing his face exhaustedly, she leaned in to hug him. "How long were you in there for?" she asked after taking a deep breath in through her mouth.

"God…three, four hours?"

Rachel couldn't stop the gasp that escaped her. "W-what?"

"I called the guys into the locker room at lunch to try and convince them to join glee. You can see how well that panned out for me."

She ignored the sarcastic bite in his tone. "Noah, since lunch? That was six hours ago! All this time I was hiding in the choir room when- ugh!" Rachel's tiny fist clenched against his shoulder. She had wasted her time moping while Noah was suffering in a port-o-potty? "Those vile, unbelievable… fuckers!"

Puck's eyes snapped to her in surprise. "Berry, you just dropped a hard f-bomb."

"I can't believe they had the utter gall to do this to you! You're on the same team as each other, for god's sake! You would think they would have some loyalty or, or brotherhood or something!" He gave her a guilty frown. "What? What is it?"

"Listen, Rachel, I'm sorry none of us said anything during Santana's bitch fit. It was wrong of us to let her go on like that, even if you _were _acting all crazy about the solos."

She gaped at him, willing herself not to laugh. "You've been stuck in this toilet hell for six hours and you're apologizing to me? Did you lose your mind while in confinement?"

He gave her a chuckle in return. "Hey, it didn't take long for me to start praying in there. Said if the big man got me out, I'd start being nicer to people. Then I realized there was no way I could do that, so I changed it. To just Jews. And what did he do? He sent me a hot, Jewish American angel to save the day. I knew God was real."

Rachel laughed this time, leaning her head on his shoulder and tightening her embrace. "I'm so happy you're okay, Noah. I came as soon as I got Karofsky and Azimio to fess up."

"Wait, you took them on?" he sputtered, pushing her away. "What did you do?"

She held up her can of mace, shaking it playfully. "He sang like a canary," she informed him with a grin. "Maybe he _should _consider joining glee."

Puck smirked at her. "Berry, you delightful thing, I do believe this is the start of a super, sexy friendship."

She rolled her eyes and nudged his foot with hers. "Do you think I would have came to your rescue if I didn't already consider you a friend?" The smile that stretched his cheeks was sincere and grateful. "Come on, get up. You need to go home and take a shower. You stink to the high heavens."

"Berry, this is the part where you pull me up onto your white horse and we ride off into the sunset. You're doing a horrible job as my knight in shining armor." She ignored him as he walked her back inside to grab the bag she had left in the choir room. After checking its contents, making sure that Karofsky and Azimio hadn't taken or done anything to her possessions, they headed to the parking lot together. She gave him one last smile and climbed into her car.

He caught the door before she could close it and gave her a meaningful stare.

"Seriously, Rachel. I appreciate you helping me out today. You and I both know I deserved to stay in there for days after all the times I've locked geeks in there."

"Looking past your indiscretions, your stint in juvie, and the fact that you insulted your past victims just now," she began, "you're a changed man, Noah. You deserve better than to be treated in such a humiliating way."

If he could blush, he would have. "Right well… thanks. And Berry?"

"Yes?"

"Finn's a douche for lying about it. You deserve better too."

With that, he jogged over to his truck, leaving her to consider his words.

* * *

She hung her head low as Santana flounced away from her triumphantly.

"_Did I tell you he bought me dinner after?" _

She hated how easy it was for Santana to tear her down. Sure, her rivalry with Quinn Fabray was one for the books, but Santana was so spiteful, so hurtful that it killed her even more to know that she was the one Finn had been with. That Santana was the one rubbing it in her face that she had her hands all over her boyfriend last spring.

"Hey, you okay?"

She turned and found Puck looking at her with concern. "Noah," she sighed.

"What is it, little mama?"

She scoffed at the new nickname he had decided to start calling her. "What could be wrong? You bribed Lauren Zizes into filling Kurt's spot. Word has spread about my 'badassery' in dealing with two of the biggest neanderthals in this school. The sun is shining, the birds are chirping. Everything's just fine."

"Seriously, Rachel, what is it?"

She didn't understand why her stomach fluttered every time he said her first name, but she didn't question it as she dropped her shoulders with defeat. "It's Finn."

He nodded understandingly. "Boyfriend troubles. I got that covered." He leaned in, and teasingly whispered, "Considering I'm usually the cause of them, I'd say I'm an expert."

If she weren't so upset, he would've gotten a giggle from her.

"Walk with me."

Puck offered her his arm, which she took with very little hesitation. Biting her tongue to stop herself from saying anything stupid, she couldn't help but notice his bicep felt larger than the last time she had held it. She nearly questioned him about it, but thought twice. Knowing him, he would take it as an attempt to flirt and she wasn't in the mood to give him an opening for his crass humor. "Where are we going?" she asked instead.

"To my place. Or yours. Either way, there's no reason to stay with the other losers today," he told her. "You and I are on backburner, remember? They don't actually need us at practice." Rachel stiffened at the comment. "I mean Finnessa had a point about star players. You don't just pull them out at the last second and replace them with the third string, and trust me. Quinn's third string. Schue could've at least gone with Mercedes."

Somewhere in there was a compliment, she was sure of it, so she relaxed herself and smiled at him. "I knew _someone _had to see it my way."

Puck shrugged, grinning lazily. "Mama, you're a star. You just shine too bright for any of those wannabes to see it. Now come on. The Puckerone's gonna cheer you right up."

And just like that, her chest was puffed up and she was grinning again. Bless the person who taught Noah flattery.

It took fifteen minutes to get to her house, though if Puck had been leading, they would've gotten there much faster. "Seriously, Berry, you must be the only person to drive ten _less _than the speed limit," he snapped irritably as he trudged into the kitchen to find something to eat. "Man, it's been a year since I've been in this neighborhood, and it's just as embarrassing as before, seeing my beat down pick-up in the middle of all these fancy Lexuses and BMWs and shit."

She couldn't help but frown from her place at the kitchen island. "I like your truck, Noah."

"Still. Weren't you a little shamefaced when we were dating? Knowing you came from the rich neck of Lima while I-"

"Are you serious? The most popular boy in school choosing the social outcast? I was ecstatic," she confessed genuinely.

"Second most popular. Finn, remember?"

"Ah yes," she drawled. "So, I'm gonna have the utter pleasure of breaking up with the two head honchos at my school. Does that make me desirable now?"

Puck turned away from the fridge in surprise. "Seriously? You're dumping Finn?"

Rachel froze, realizing the gravity of her joke. "I… I don't know," she stuttered. "I mean, no. Maybe?"

He closed the refrigerator door and leaned on the island, taking her hand. "You know I'm trying to fix my friendship with him, but I'm on your side, mama." Their eyes locked for much longer than she knew was appropriate before she whipped her hand away with a scowl.

"Why do you call me that?"

Noah took a second to recover before laughing at her indignant expression. "What? Mama? You're no 'baby,' Rachel. You're large and in charge, and papa like." Rachel grunted her disgust and walked away, knowing he'd follow her up to her room. "You listened to the new Lady Antebellum yet?" he asked. "I think you'd like it."

"Not as of yet," she told him. "But thanks for reminding me. That album's been on my playlist of 'Need to Listen To.' Got a suggestion of what to listen to first?"

He plopped down on the bed and watched her search through her closet for something more comfortable to wear. He swallowed thickly when she stood on her toes and her skirt inched just a bit higher. Her thighs stretched the fabric of her pantyhose, making it semi-transparent. "All of it I guess," he answered throatily.

Rachel dropped to her heels, her brows arching. "Are you alright?"

"Do you really want to break up with Finn?"

Her toes dug into her carpet and she looked at anything but him. "I… I guess I've thought about it. How am I supposed to trust someone that would lie about something so important? Not that he sees how much something like that means to me," she grumbled. "And the look on his face when Santana was practically throwing himself at her in the hallway. Let's face it. If I don't break up with him, he'll probably do it first. She's gorgeous. How could I possibly compete?"

Rachel had not realized that Noah was off her bed and standing in front of her until he tilted her face up gently, the fingers he placed under her chin slowly trailing up her jawline to cup her cheek. "You're wrong." Her breath caught in her throat. What did he mean? "When you opened that port-a-john and I saw you, the sun shining all around your hair, I thought you were the most beautiful thing I'd ever laid my eyes on."

"Noah," she exhaled.

She didn't stop him when he leaned down and pressed his lips against hers. The hand on her face found their way to the back of her neck and he tugged her forward into him. Before she knew it, her arms were around his shoulders and he was carrying her to the bed. The moment she hit the mattress, Rachel was pulling him on top of her, unzipping his hoodie and pushing it down his arms. "Rach," he murmured against her skin, and she hummed in reply, enjoying the attention he was paying to her collarbone.

He groaned excitedly when her thighs gripped his hips and he was pushed onto his back. Rachel bent down and found his mouth once more and he shivered at the feeling of her soft hand stroking his mohawk.

"Jesus," he huffed breathlessly, his hand creeping up her side to find purchase on a small strip of skin just above her skirt.

Noah found himself on top again, kissing her with so much passion that he felt his pants tightening as if he was still an inexperienced twelve year old. "I forgot how good this felt," she told him, drawing another moan from him as she began nipping on his ear. He tilted his head to give her a better angle, and as if some higher power was trying to punish him, he saw a picture of Finn sitting on her bedside table.

Summoning all his willpower, he pulled away with a frustrated sigh.

"What is it?" she asked. "Did you not like that?"

He dropped his forehead to hers, shook his head, then lifted his lips to the space between her eyebrows. Noah gently kissed the skin there. "I can't do this."

"O-oh…"

"I mean I _really _want to do this. Everything I just said about you? All true, and I'm sorry it took you attacking Karofsky for me to realize it but… I don't want to be his seat warmer, Rach. I've done that before. I can't do it again."

He climbed off the bed, trying his best to ignore the look on her face.

"I'll see you at school tomorrow, mama."

* * *

Try as she may, Rachel couldn't get the kiss out of her head and to make matters worse, they couldn't even be in the same room as each other without the tension amping up to the point of suffocation. She was still on the outs with Finn, their attempts at speaking to each other always ending in her storming away after an exasperated apology from him. How could he not see why this was hurting her so much? He had to have some kind of understanding to have hidden it in the first place yet there he was, still defending his actions. In truth, she knew she was going a bit overboard. She and Finn weren't together at the time, after all, and she had almost lost her virginity to Jesse on the same night he lost his. But she had fessed up to lying. Why hadn't he done the same? Maybe she wouldn't have taken it so hard if he had just been honest.

And now, here they all were. Screaming at each other in the green room minutes before going on stage. And she was angrier than before.

Everyone knew? Even Noah?

Why hadn't _he _told her?! Or at least why hadn't he told her this past week?

She saw the way he flinched at the accusing glare she sent his way. Too hurt over his newly discovered betrayal, she turned back to Finn. "Everyone knew about this but me?!"

"Pretty much," Tina told her, none too kindly.

Santana side-eyed her. "Nobody tells you anything because A, you're a blabber mouth and B, we all just pretend to like you."

"That's not true. I like her," Puck cut in.

She refused to grant him whatever forgiving gesture he was looking for and instead went on a tirade after being yelled at by Finn, feeling even more humiliated than before. Her only consolation was that Tina and Artie were mad at their respective beaus as well, adding to her own dramatics so she didn't feel too ridiculous. It took Mr. Schuester less than five seconds to make them all feel just as bad as she did for even fighting the way they were when they were supposed to be a team. So, in an effort not to upset her teacher any further, she tried not to look smug when Santana and Quinn made them champions of a tie decision, and not a full first place win.

They were on the bus back to McKinley when, unfortunately, another big fight broke out. Santana was whispering nasty insults just loud enough for Rachel to hear and Finn, who was sitting right across from them, did nothing to stop it as usual. Her fury at the brim, she turned and shouted at Santana to "keep her arrogant mouth shut."

"Rachel," Mr. Schuester warned.

"No, I've had it!" She cried angrily.

Just a week ago, she had Azimio and Karofsky cowering in fear. There was no way she'd take anymore crap from the people that were supposed to be her friends, or teammates at the least.

"You know what Finn, you were right in saying I was more upset about Santana having sex with you than the fact that you lied to me about it." He sat straighter, but the confidence he gained at her admission quickly deflated when she continued. "You're damn right I'm upset that it was the girl that degrades me, humiliates me, and draws pornographic pictures of me in the bathrooms on a weekly basis. And don't get me started on what you said before. Here you are telling me I have no right to be mad because I was dating someone at the time? I walked away from Jesse that night because I was so head over heels in love with you, but you! You couldn't even muster enough courage to tell me the truth! I can barely breathe when I think about it, Finn! You got your kicks from a girl that hated me for just being me! And I get that I'm insane and self-centered about things like solos, but would it kill you to defend me when people start jumping and attacking me like they did last week?! Your ex said she wanted to punch me in the mouth and you didn't even bat your eyes at it! You're lucky Santana's the only thing I've been fighting with you about!" Finn had the decency to look ashamed. "And you!"

Puck's eyes widened when she whirled around and pointed her finger at him. "Now, Berry, just let me explain." He inched closer to Lauren, hoping his new friend would protect him.

"You knew? And you knew that everyone else knew and you didn't tell me? I thought we were friends! I thought-!" Images of their kiss assaulted her mind. She felt her cheeks heat. "You're a jerk!" she finished. "And you!"

Mr. Schuester's jaw dropped. He was going to be yelled at too?

"Did you see that, Schue? We nearly didn't make it to regionals because of your stupid plan! This isn't summer camp! We're in a competition, one that has determined funding for us in the past, so what's to stop them from doing that again? You do know that schools work that way, right? The winners get the best funding."

"Rachel," he snapped back angrily. "You can't always be the one-"

"Oh, please. I'll have enough solos on Broadway to last me a lifetime," she spat. "If you had given the solos to Mercedes or Tina we would have had a win. Not a _tie_, a _win_." She threw herself down on her seat with a huff. "Just so you know, I'll be apologizing for my inappropriate, horrible manners towards an authority figure tomorrow but right now I'm seeing red so you can wait."

The bus went silent. Even the driver was affected by the awkwardness.

In the back, Tina and Mercedes stood and walked up the aisle with the biggest shit-eating grins any of them had ever seen. Mercedes took the seat next to Rachel, Tina slipping in the one in front of them. The two girls smirked at Santana over Rachel's shoulder.

"So, Rach," Mercedes began. "Tina, Kurt and I are having a sleepover at my house tonight. _Winners_ only. You in?"

Rachel gave them a surprised, stammered "yes, of course."

* * *

Word of the "Finchel" split spread through the school like wildfire. Exhausted and upset that Finn refused to validate her feelings, Rachel's love for him could no longer outweigh their disagreements, and she ended it. It was quick, painful, and she hated not knowing if he was hurting over losing her or losing face by being dumped by the biggest loser in school. At this point, she wasn't even sure if she would one day have him back in her life, at least as a friend. Santana wanted desperately to gloat, but she didn't have enough ammo with Rachel being the dumper. Tina and Mercedes, after they had somehow struck up a real friendship, were chattering her ear off about how _she _had left the star quarterback in the dust.

"I'd like to see Santana try and mess with you now. No one would dare call you a loser again, Miss Diva," Mercedes squealed excitedly as they turned the corner.

As if jinxing her, one of the football jocks threw a cherry slushie at her. The majority of it hit the new sweater she was wearing, some of it splattering over her chin and neck. Rachel's fingers clenched tightly around the spines of her notebooks and she begged herself not to cry.

Like losing Finn that week wasn't enough.

"You little punk!" Tina hissed, her hand automatically wrapping around Rachel's wrist defensively.

"That was for Hudson, man-hands," the boy laughed as he jogged down the hall.

Rachel dared to look up. Finn's locker was just down the way, and with her luck, he was there. Her ex was gaping at her, glancing around to look at the people laughing at her expense. He visibly tensed, slammed is locker shut and walked towards her, his big arms swinging and his head held high with purpose.

"We've got your back, Rach," Mercedes swore.

It wasn't needed, they realized, when Finn pulled his plaid shirt off and draped it over her shoulders. "I didn't see you come in with the tote bag you usually keep extra clothes in, so take this."

The three girls weren't the only ones stunned into silence.

"I'm gonna find that kid and kick the crap out of him, I swear," he growled, marching past them.

"Uh… he does know that you guys broke up, right?"

Rachel nodded slowly, a small smile tugging at the corner of her mouth.

Maybe they could still be friends after all.

Later on that day at glee, Rachel was sitting in her usual seat at the front, Finn's very large shirt folded on her lap. Tina had thankfully given her something to wear that she actually fit into and wouldn't look like a dress. She handed his shirt back to him when he walked in, and he nodded kindly to her, slipping it back on. He sat at the top of the risers, making it clear that he didn't expect anything for his chivalry. It was enough to prove to her that their relationship could be repaired one day, in whatever form it would become.

"Yo, Berry."

Everyone looked up when Puck strutted in, Lauren just behind him. Rachel rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. She tapped her foot and waited for him to continue.

"I'll leave you alone with that one, Puckerman," Lauren chuckled, eager to see how his apology would play out. She saw what Berry could dish out, and she definitely didn't want to be on the receiving end of that mess.

"What do you want, Puck?" she asked tersely.

Puck scooted the chair next to her closer and sat on it sideways. He rested his forearms on the back of the chair and began poking her shoulder with both index fingers. "Come on, little mama," he murmured so that she would be the only one to hear him. "You can't still be mad at me."

"I can't believe you didn't tell me that everyone knew," Rachel growled. "It's so embarrassing."

"It is so not as bad as you think it is," he laughed. Her eye twitched and she turned in her seat so she could shove his chair away with her heel. "Hey now, none of that!" He grabbed her ankle before she could kick his chair again. "Come on, Rach. No more secrets. I swear. Don't you miss me even a little bit?"

She huffed and turned her chin the other way. Side-eyeing him, she very quietly responded with, "a little."

Puck took it as a victory, righted his chair, and threw an arm around her. "I knew you'd come crawling back to me. Or did you forget I'm the only one in here that likes you?"

Rachel scowled and slapped his chest with the back of her hand. "That's not true!" she retorted testily. "Tina and Mercedes like me now too! And Kurt likes me, he's just not _physically _here."

"Yeah but who was your first friend out of all of us?"

"Kurt," she deadpanned.

He let out a defeated puff of air. "Yeah but who's your favorite?"

"Probably Mercedes."

"Amen," the girl rang behind her, snapping her fingers in z-formation before tapping the top of Puck's head to annoy him even more.

"Please, Berry," he grunted. "I liked you way before these losers, or have you forgotten our whirlwind romance last year? Face it. You somehow found your biggest ally in the biggest pain in your ass."

She stared up at him and thought of how his lips felt against hers. When he met her gaze, she could tell he was thinking of it too. "Yeah, seeing as Kurt is the Ginger to Mercedes' Astaire, I don't think I'd mind you and Tina being fierce competitors for my vacant position of 'Best Friend.' Think you two are up for it?"

"You're on, Puckerman," Tina answered almost immediately.

Mike grinned. "I gotta warn you, bro. She doesn't like losing."

Puck shrugged, his eyes never leaving Rachel's. "I'm up for the challenge."


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary****: "She slowly waved the can between the pair, daring them to follow her, before turning on her heel and sprinting towards the port-a-potties outside." Had Rachel been the one to find Puck. AU from Special Education**

** More Than**

"_Isha kwarer afer wah, um arr arronen I nehyou nah." _

Rachel was giggling madly.

During Hanukkah week, Puck had gotten her the Lady Antebellum CD so she wouldn't have any more excuses not to listen to it. They listened to it almost every morning he drove her to school, and eventually had memorized the words to every song. It had gotten to the point that they made a game out of it. Could they sing it triple the speed without messing up? Could they recite lyrics backwards? Currently, the challenge was to sing it during a round of chubby bunny. After every sentence, Puck popped another marshmallow into his mouth and, to him, Rachel's little giggles were worth choking on one of his least favorite snacks. She followed suit and tried her hand at it, seemingly more successful than he was. When the amount of marshmallows in his mouth had him on the brink of hurling up the contents of his stomach, he spit them all out and glared at her.

"Seriously, the entire song? How do you do that? Your mouth is like the Mary Poppins bag."

She let out a bark of laughter. "I have my secrets, Puckerman."

"You're cheating. You have to be eating the marshmallows when I'm not looking or something."

Rachel rolled her eyes. "If you must know, I can comfortably hold that many marshmallows in my mouth because I lack a gag reflex-"

Every drop of blood in Noah's body rushed south as he gaped at her casual remark. "What?"

"-so I'd appreciate it if you didn't _accuse _me of cheating, Noah."

"I… I'm sorry, did you just say you don't have a-"

"Was that singing I heard in here?"

The two of them looked up to see Mr. Schuester peaking into the choir room curiously. Noah nodded weakly, grabbing his backpack and sitting it on his lap.

"What's going on, guys? It's lunch! Don't you two ever take a break?"

He wasn't wrong. The moment Noah proclaimed himself as Rachel's best friend, he was forced to prove himself Berry material by devoting more of his time to New Directions. He was rivaling Rachel in ideas and suggestions for their club.

"Just working on something, Mr. Schue," Puck told him.

"Well, I can't wait for you guys to present it to the team!" They talked over some dance moves and songs they wanted to use for the group number before the warning bell sounded that lunch period was over. "I'll see you guys after school for glee, alright?"

Puck nodded. "We'll see you then, Mr. Schue." He walked Rachel out and towards her class. "Alright, Berry, you know what time it is. Pop quiz!"

She rolled her eyes. In retaliation for her constant, and forced, lessons about all things Broadway, Puck insisted on teaching her the ins and outs of football.

"What's a Hail Mary?"

"A prayer."

"Dude."

She pondered her real answer before responding. "Uhm… a long, desperate pass usually done at the end of a half?" He hummed an approving sound. "How many Tonys did Rent win?"

"Four, nominated for ten. Define fumble."

"Oh!" she clapped her hands. "I remember this. This is an easy one! When the person with the ball drops it!"

"And then?"

"And then both teams can try to take it."

"So what do you do if you recover the ball?"

"Uhm… 'run like hell' to the end zone?"

Puck ruffled her hair proudly, much to her displeasure. "You got it, Berry! And if someone on your team recovers it, defend the shit out of them."

"Alright, your turn. Name three jukebox musicals."

"Rock of Ages, American Idiot and-"

"Puckerman!"

Rachel smirked up at the teen that flinched next to her. She had warned him that he'd be in trouble with Mrs. Hagberg if he skipped History one more time. "I guess I'll see you at glee, little mama. And be careful, alright? The tools on our team are being bigger assholes than before. You see a Big Quench, you run, got it?"

"You don't have to tell me, big poppa," she told him. He grinned at her, a fluttering in his stomach at the nickname. Rachel had started calling him it to prove how ridiculous it was to be called something like "little mama." To her chagrin, he loved it and she could hardly take it away from him when he smiled at her like that.

"See you later, Rach."

Puck was jittery for his last two periods of school. All different scenarios were popping into his head. What if Rachel had been slushied not once, but twice? Or what if one of those assholes decided to make fun of her nose? His hands balled into fists under his desk as he stared at the clock. It had been difficult just being Rachel's friend for the past few weeks. Since she saved him from Port-o-Hell, he could hardly keep her out of his thoughts. The good Lord had sent her to him not once, but twice. Yahweh was pointing a huge, neon pink arrow right at Rachel Berry. Could he possibly deny the big man upstairs when he was giving him all the signs that he wanted the two hottest Jews he'd created to be together? Or at least that was the argument he was going to use when he finally got the balls to ask her out.

Noah tapped his pen against his notepad. Was a month and a half enough time to get over her first love? He definitely didn't want to ask her out if she was still mooning over St. Finn. Besides that being a rough time for him, it would be pretty damn inconsiderate to her. She didn't need shit like that messing with her head. Truth was, he actually cared about this girl, more than any before, certainly more than Quinn. When Rachel Berry had the chance at payback for all the crap he pulled on her, she turned the other cheek and helped him, defended him against two of the biggest asswads in school, even going so far as comforting him like he was some baby stuck in the middle of a hurricane. Although the thought of that bruised his ego big time. Did he really look that bad after only six hours in that john?

The sound of the last bell was more than welcomed and Puck, of course, was the first one out the door. He power-walked down the hallway, trying to look nonchalant, but everyone who saw him could see he was a man on a mission. He skidded to a stop when he got to the choir room. Everyone was there but Mr. Schue, Artie and-

"Where's Berry?" he demanded.

Finn rolled his eyes, as did many others in the room. "Relax, Puck, I saw her in the hall. She's just putting her stuff in her locker."

"Seriously, Puckerman," Santana muttered. "I get that you have a pavlovian response to Treasure Trail, you know, drooling every time her piercing voice grates on your apparently semi-deaf ears, but how about you tone down the desperation?"

Some of them snickered, loving the way he flushed at being called out. "First of all, stop calling her that. And excuse me for worrying about a teammate, Lopez, but the guys are becoming ruthless. I just wanted to make sure-"

"Sorry, I'm late!"

Puck perked up when Rachel walked in behind him, grabbed his forearm and led him to the risers. "There you are! I was worried."

"And you aren't late," Tina laughed. She shared a knowing glance with Mike as they practiced their dance moves. There wasn't much they agreed on with Santana Lopez, but she was right about Puck. He was so smitten they couldn't believe Rachel didn't notice it.

"That's very sweet, Noah, but as you can see I'm perfectly fine. In fact, it looks like we're all fine!"

What had been wishful thinking on her part was demolished when Artie rolled in, shivering and soaked in red ice.

"Oh my god, Artie!" Tina exclaimed. Brittany ran to him, horror clear on her face as she took in his state.

Finn trembled in his seat. "That's it!" he bellowed. He'd had enough. Those assholes ran his brother out of school, and now this? They really thought they were tough shit for ganging up on a kid in a wheelchair? "Screw rehearsal, this ends here and now!" Sam and Mike were quick to follow when Finn stormed towards the door. Though Rachel begged him not to do anything reckless, Puck fell right in step with the quarterback.

"We're gonna go all… thunderdome on those guys!" he shouted.

Rachel nearly had a panic attack when she saw the jocks casually strut into their choir room as if they hadn't just bullied their friend. The cocky grins that were sent their way made her reconsider why she was trying to stop Noah from beating their faces in. She was so caught up in her fury she could barely comprehend what was being said until Mr. Schue and Coach Beiste walked in together, their forms tense and authoritative when they told everyone to sit down. Puck backpedaled slowly, hoping they would do something stupid so he had an excuse to hurt them. She guided him down into his seat and held his Letterman sleeve tightly to keep him from jumping them. What was going on? Was this some sad attempt to make them bond and let bygones be bygones? In that one moment, Rachel named herself a hypocrite. She'd never forgive them for what they'd done to her and her friends. Whatever her glee coach was thinking would be out of the-

"Let's give a warm welcome to the newest members of glee club!"

"WHAT?!"

The explosion of voices yelling at their coaches was the first time the Titans and New Directions were actually in agreement with each other.

Rachel's jaw dropped, and though she could see the smirk threatening to break through Mr. Schue's calm façade, there was no way she could allow this. These animals degraded her and her friends on a daily basis, scared Kurt into leaving, locked her best friend in a port-o-potty for six hours and, just recently, drowned Artie in slush for the sake of humor. There was no forgiveness, no going back anymore.

Finn stood at the top, captain of both teams, ready to shut down and verbally assault Mr. Schuester for his insane idea. "Mr. Schue, are you serious?!" It was the angriest they'd ever heard him with their teacher. "These are the guys that made Kurt transfer!"

She was quick to join her co-captain. "And there's no way that I'm sharing the choir room with a known _homophobe_!" She elbowed Puck's side and, like a loyal pit bull, he leaned forward with a menacing sneer, daring them to say anything against her.

Their pleas and protestations fell on deaf ears when the two teachers left no room for argument.

"If I have to stay, I'm not singing no show tunes! That is the music of my oppressors," Azimio stated, glaring at the choir kids.

Puck looked to Rachel through the corner of his eye and saw his Broadway diva about to go full Patti LuPone on Azimio's ass, but Finn beat her to it. "Do you even have any idea what we do in here?"

"No. None of them do." Mr. Schuester's tone was hard and his club finally felt they had his support. "We have to show them. Rachel, Puck." The two sat straighter in their seats. "Haven't you guys been working on something? Why don't you give it a whirl?"

She bit the inside of her cheek, wanting to turn down the offer. Puck did know the chords to "Need You Now"but none of those neanderthals deserved to see her talent after making fun of it for so long.

Feeling the need to confer with Finn and the others that it would be okay to go along with Mr. Schuester's request while he was forcing them to get along with their enemies, she glanced around the room for acceptance. Mercedes, Tina and Mike gave her their thumbs up and Finn sent an encouraging nod her way. Giving Artie's cherry red-stained figure a look over she turned back to her teacher. "Fine," she bit out. Puck immediately started stripping his jacket off. "As offended as I am by their presence here, I won't let anything get in the way of a performance."

In near choreographed unison, Noah and Rachel stood from their seats and sent sharp glares towards the football team.

Lauren chuckled behind them, crossing her arms. There was nothing she enjoyed more than seeing tiny Berry lay down a vocal smackdown. The others were grinning smugly as well, knowing Rachel and Puck would show the assholes exactly what they were made of.

Puck grabbed a guitar from the band and nodded to Rachel that he was ready. As the music started, Rachel fell into performance mode, a bright confidence shining through as she eyed every member of the football team. _"Picture perfect memories, scattered all around the floor. Reaching for the phone 'cause I can't fight it anymore." _She leaned into the piano and craned her neck to find her duet partner. Meeting his gaze, she nearly forgot the words when she saw the look he was giving her.

"_And I wonder if I ever cross your mind,_" they harmonized together.

"_For me it happens all the time." _

They sung the chorus together, circling each other before turning their attention to the audience. Suddenly, Rachel was having trouble remembering her anger towards the pinheads sitting on the right side of the room. She and Puck had never brought up the kiss they shared, but the subtext of it all was palpable, for her at least. Their gazes always met in furtive little glances and they found any reason to be touching each other, whether it was lacing their arms together or sitting close enough to be touching knees. Now, performing with him for the first time in a very long while, there were no games to hide the lyrics. Her heart beat rapidly, out of sync with the tempo of the song when Noah took over. She noticed that he had no trouble in remembering why they were performing as he approached the jocks and thrust his shoulders at them.

It only took her fingers on the small of his back to reel him back in. He gave her a million-watt smile when they fell back into the chorus. For the rest of the song their attention was solely on each other.

"_It's a quarter after one, I'm all alone and I need you now." _

"_And I said I wouldn't call, but I'm a little drunk and I need you now." _

She bit her lip through a smile and they gently inched closer to each other. _"And I don't know how I can do without, I just need you now." _Rachel's placed her tiny hand on top of his much larger one, which was still pressing the last chord down on the neck of the guitar.

Puck smirked at her, one brow rising up in question as they soaked up the sound of applause. He saw her stare flicker down to his lips and his throat dried immediately. What was that? Was she finally developing feelings for him? He leaned in an inch more when he heard Azimio's annoying voice bounce around the walls.

"The girl with the mohawk had a really nice voice."

It took him less than three seconds to rip the guitar off his body and hoist it up like a bat. He was just about to swing it into Azimio's obnoxious mouth when Coach Beiste grabbed him from behind and pulled him away.

Everything happened so quickly.

Like an amped up fight on the field, the two teams were on their feet, screaming and clawing at each other. Finn was at the risers, an arm outstretched to physically defend the glee clubbers from the huge athletes trying to push up against them. The Unholy Trinity was screeching their scathing insults, Brittany the loudest of them all as she gripped Artie's hand tightly. Puck saw Sam lunging his way in what he thought was an attempt to back him up, but instead watched him rush pass.

Noah stopped fighting against his coach as he watched Rachel in awe.

Slipping right out of Sam's arms, Rachel Berry dodged past the two coaches and jump-tackled Azimio straight into the rack of sheet music behind him.

It took a few seconds after the initial stunned silence and shock wore off that the school's biggest loser was clawing and punching the living Jesus out of a boy thrice her size for the room to go back into an uproar. Mercedes was laughing and pointing, Santana watching with unadulterated pleasure as the pint-sized girl had Azimio Adams squealing in pain. It took Finn, Puck and Sam to pry the tiny girl off of him, and once she had finally let go of her hold, Noah wrapped his arms around her waist and dragged her away. "Berry!" he guffawed while she struggled in his arms. She ignored him, kicking at the air and reaching out for the footballer once more. "Rach, calm down!"

"That. Was. Wanky!" Santana screamed over the noise. "You just got your ass handed to you by Rachel 'Man Hands' Berry, Azimio! How does that feel?"

Rachel wiped her face with the back of her hand when she realized that her nose was bleeding from the rough impact she took after slamming against Azimio the way she did. "Oh he's getting more than just these man hands, you no good, arrogant, pig-headed, bunch of-!"

"Rachel!" Mr. Schuester cut in, ignoring the way Puck was beaming with pride behind his star singer. "That's enough for the day. Shannon, talk to your guys about attacking my team. I'm not accepting this kind of behavior anymore."

"Are you kidding me? Us? That little Jew-nose better be getting sent to Figgins after what she just did to Azimio," Karofsky demanded as he helped his friend off the floor. The other guys nodded in agreement with him.

Rachel blanched when she realized the magnitude of her impulsive actions. She hadn't meant to lose her control so badly, but she was already angry enough that Azimio's final insult against her Noah had her flying off the handle. Dread settled in the pit of her stomach. As much as she loved her teacher, he always did the right thing for students as a whole. There was no way he wouldn't send her to the principal's office for what she had done. After all, it was no better than what they did to them. "Mr. Schue, no! Please, you can't-"

To her surprise, Mr. Schuester locked his hands on his hips and gave Dave a disbelieving, scoffed laugh. "You expect me to punish her after everyone in this school turns a blind eye to your hate crimes, bullying, and apparent racism? Well, here's a little taste of the flip side, Mr. Karofsky. I didn't see anything."

The right guard's jaw dropped. "W-what?"

Will shrugged, crossing his arms and leaning against the piano. "I didn't see Rachel do anything. Coach?"

Coach Beiste shook her head. "We were a bit too busy to notice what the kids were doing. Don't think I saw anything either, William."

Strando and Azimio could barely believe what they were hearing. "Are you kidding me? She's getting out of attacking me like that, unpunished?"

"Do you see Artie over there?" Mr. Schuester asked. "Do you see the way you treat other kids on a daily basis and you guys never get punished?" They fell silent, unsure of how to defend themselves. "Get out of my choir room until you can act like humans. And don't you ever use derogatory terms like 'Jew-nose' around me again. I don't care who you think you are."

"You heard him, ladies," Shannon barked. "I want you on the field running laps for this mess! Now!"

When the glee clubbers were finally alone, Will turned to them with a sad sigh and froze at the way they were staring at him. "What?"

"Mr. Schue," Rachel murmured softly, her voice trembling with unshed tears.

"That was badass," Puck told him.

"Yeah, Mr. Schue," Finn followed. "…thanks. For not letting them get the upper hand on us this time."

"Hey," he responded just as kindly. Will walked over to Rachel and hugged her tightly. "If the other teachers get to play favorites, then so do I. No one messes with my kids."

* * *

"FYI, I don't admit to being wrong frequently, but I was wrong about you, Berry. That was super hot what you did in the choir room today. Puck's had an outstanding influence on you," Santana told her with a smirk.

Rachel was still staring at her in fear. After the glee meeting was done, Santana had all but followed Puck and Rachel to his car and forced them to give her a lift home. From the parking lot to her house in Lima Heights Adjacent, she had been going on about how amazing she was for "brutally beating the crap" out of Azimio, one of her least favorite Titans. It was bordering near homoerotic as she described how "thrilling" it was to watch.

"We're here," Puck snapped in irritation when they pulled up in front of her place. "Now get out of my truck."

"Seriously, Puck, you're with her every day. You'll have time to bump uglies later, so chill." Rachel turned such a dark shade of red it was nearly purple. Santana continued before Puck could yell at her. "So, Berry. B and I are going to the mall tomorrow. You wanna come? You can bring Chocolate Thunder and Asian Number One if you'd like."

"We have plans tomorrow, Lopez. Bye."

"Uhm, excuse me, I understand that your schnoz isn't as big as Berry's, but that doesn't mean you have to overcompensate by being the nosy one in this marriage. I do believe I was talking to your wife?"

"Santana," Rachel interrupted weakly, trying to steer the cheerleader away from talking about whatever relationship was going on between Noah and her. "I _do _have plans with Noah tomorrow night so-"

"So we'll hang out in the morning," she answered. "See you tomorrow, Berry!"

With that, she finally hopped out of the seat, slammed the door and disappeared into her home. Rachel eyed the empty passenger's seat and wondered if she should slide down the bench to fill it. As she was about to, Noah snaked an arm around her waist and kept her in place next to him. He peeled out of the spot and down the street.

"I can't believe she's trying to be all buddy-buddy with you after the shit she put you through."

She shrugged, just as confused. "Common enemy, I guess."

"Are you seriously gonna hang out with her tomorrow?"

"It doesn't seem like she's giving me a choice. I'm sure she'll find my house and drag me to the mall if I'm not there. Besides," she nudged his knee with hers. "I've been meaning to get that sweater with the carousel horse silhouette on it."

"Don't forget that plaid skirt," Puck reminded her quickly. Too quickly. "The one that makes you look like a naughty Catholic school girl."

"Always the charmer, Noah."

He chuckled and tightened his arm around her. "She was right though."

"About what?"

"What you did today? Hot as fuck. You always gonna rush in and save the day when Azimio and Karofsky try to mess with me?"

"You know it," she told him with a grin.

He wiggled his eyebrows. "Papa like."

Rachel faked a gag and pulled away from him. "Ugh. This mama-papa stuff has to stop. It's not getting less gross like you promised."

"Give it time, little mama. Give it time."

Once they got to her house, he parked the car and followed her in like usual. Puck excitedly recounted what happened to her dads when they ran into them in the kitchen. Though they were less than pleased with their daughter partaking in such a violent occurrence, they couldn't help but smile inwardly. It looked like Rachel was falling in love again. Leroy and Hiram left the kids downstairs to hang out, giving them money to order food should they get hungry.

"I'm gonna be telling that story to everyone, just so you know."

"Apparently," Rachel responded dryly.

"Man, you have no idea how awesome it feels. Out of all the crap they've done, the one thing that made you go bat shit was that they insulted me. Noah Puckerman, the Lima Loser. Rachel Berry tackled a full grown linebacker for me."

Rachel gnawed on her lip, her stomach tightening as she watched him proudly declare who his savior was, as if she was Bon Jovi or something. Taking a chance, she swallowed down her fear and insecurities. "Well, I hope he's learned his lesson. You don't insult the boy a girl likes just as she's about to kiss him."

Noah's eyes widened comically. "Wh-"

Rachel stood on her toes and pecked his lips, pulling away quickly. She linked her hands behind her back and swayed in her spot. "Well?" she asked when he didn't say anything.

Puck gaped at her before groaning childishly. "Come on, Rachel! You were supposed to let _me _make the first move!"

She rolled her eyes and pinched his bicep. "I'm a modern woman, Noah!" she growled, stomping away from him and up the stairs.

"Yeah, yeah I know. Feminism, rah rah rah." He raced after her. "But come on! You're the first girl I actually like. I was gonna try to be romantic and shit and you took that away from me."

"Well, I deeply apologize, Noah." He laughed at her pure sarcasm. "How about after we break up this time around, you can be the one to start things up again."

"How about you let me touch your boobs this time around and we won't have to break up?"

"Noah Puckerman!"

* * *

"_We want to join the team."_

_Finn head dropped into his hands. This had to be some kind of cosmic joke. After finding out that more than half the guys wouldn't be playing their big championship game, Rachel had confidently announced she would be auditioning for a spot on the field. "We who?" he heard Artie ask. All the girls stood as Mercedes announced their intentions. They wanted to play the game with them. None of them were amused, but Mike and Puck were near glaring at Tina and Rachel. _

"_Come on, guys, stop screwing around," Mike told them, an irritated bite in his voice. "It's not cool." _

_Lauren rolled her eyes and joined them in the front. "What's not cool is you guys don't respect women enough to realize we're perfectly capable of playing football, and don't forget who the state champ in Greco-Roman wrestling is. I've got offers from three different professional wrestling organizations for after I graduate, so…" She high-fived Rachel, showing Puck who she was siding with this time around. _

_Mr. Schuester eyed Rachel and, deciding she was probably the ringleader in this, addressed her with his concerns. "Rachel, have you actually seen a tackle-football game? When they tackle you, it hurts." _

"_Yeah, and not in a good Mellencamp way," Noah drawled._

"_We thought about that," she answered but not without giving him a pointed glare. "But the truth is, is that you guys don't really need us to play, you just need enough players out there to field a regulation team! So when they snap the ball," Puck flinched when he watched her make a motion that was clearly not snapping the ball. His almost-girlfriend was going to die on the field. "We're just going to lie down on the ground. We're just gonna lie there." _

_It wasn't a bad idea… It wasn't like Rachel would get pummeled running plays wrong if she was just lying on the ground…_

"_Welcome to the football team," Beiste consented._

"_YES!" Rachel screeched, clapping in rhythm to her chants of "football team! Football team!" _

"Berry, wait!"

Puck looked her over. He took her helmet off and tugged at her braid. A hint of a smile flashed across his face when he trailed his fingers over the star stickers she had placed on the front of her helmet.

"You're sure about this?"

Rachel gave him an excited nod. "Unlike your juvenile teammates, we are standing by you guys no matter what, Noah."

"Don't pull any stupid stunts, got it?" He placed a hand on his hip. "I'm not gonna '_Weekend at Bernie's_' you for our date tonight."

If possible, her grin grew even wider. "Will you finally be asking me to become exclusive?"

"How about this, mama? You and I win this thing, and we're already a done deal," he told her with a wink. Rachel laughed and attempted to peck his lips through his facemask. When she couldn't, she settled for kissing the big "20" on his chest.

"For luck."

"You ready for this?"

"Let's kick some ass!" she shouted for all of them to hear. The team followed Puck in his growled war cries.

They were zero and seventeen near the half, and everyone was getting antsy. The girls were exhausted, Finn was fighting to keep calm while trying to figure out how to win their game, and Tina was revving up and insisting she wanted to actually play the game, much to Mike's displeasure. Finn warned her to take it easy, not wanting any of them to get hurt, before breaking their huddle.

Unfortunately, when the ball was fumbled in the next play, Tina was the first to see it. "Get the ball! Get the ball, come on, get it! Get it!" the others heard Coach Beiste bellowing from the sidelines. Rachel and Mercedes watched Tina scramble to her feet, grab the football, and tuck it into her side as she ran down the field as fast as she could.

"_You got it, Berry! And if someone on your team recovers it, defend the shit out of them." _

Rachel got to her feet and looked around her. Puck and Lauren hadn't noticed Tina's recovery yet, leaving Sam and Mike as her only defenders. "Let's win this thing, Berry," she grumbled through her mouth guard. Pushing off the balls of her feet, she sprinted after her friend. Though she wasn't much for size and brute strength, her dance classes and morning exercises certainly had her in shape. It didn't take her long to catch up with Tina, and when she did, she shoved herself between her and the safety that was chasing her. Rachel's presence startled the opposing player enough to make him slow down for a split second, but on instinct, he rammed his body into her and pushed through to continue his pursuit.

Rachel's eyes widened as she flew back with a squeak. Her legs went over her head and she tumbled a few feet before finally, slowly rolling to a halt. She let out a long moan and lay flat on her back, the pain so intense she thought every bone in her body might have broken. "RACH!" she heard someone shout. "RACHEL!"

Who was Rachel?

The bright lights dimmed as blurred figures clouded her vision.

"Get out of my way, Hudson! Rach! Talk to me, little mama. You in there?"

"Puckerman, let the medic through!"

"Is she alright?"

"I told you from the start that I liked this girl, Puckerman. Don't you worry your pretty little mohawk. I'll start training her in wrestling, get her buffed up so this doesn't happen again next time."

"There won't be a next time! Berry, you promised you wouldn't die!"

Rachel blinked rapidly and gained her bearings. Her sight cleared and she saw her friends circled around her. Mercedes was kneeling down on one side of her, Puck on the other, tightly gripping her hand. "Noah?"

Relief flooded his features but he scowled at her all the same. "Jesus Christ, Rachel! What the fuck were you thinking?!"

She gave him a confused frown. "You told me to defend whoever has the ball. Did I do it wrong? Am I being penalized?"

"No, Rachel," Finn told her softly. "You just got Tina enough time to score a touchdown!"

She looked at them with childlike awe. She propped herself up on her elbows. "Does this mean we won?"

Puck snorted but pulled her up into a hug. "No, but you got us closer to winning, Berry." Rachel turned to Finn for confirmation, and when she received it, she sprung to her feet and searched the field for Tina. The girl was jumping up and down in the end zone when she saw Rachel was okay. "Tina!" she cried, running the few yards out to her. They clasped hands and screeched together in celebration.

"We did it, Rachel! We did it!"

They scurried to the bleachers to take in the deafening cheers there were receiving. In true braggart fashion, they jumped up on the bench at the sidelines and pointedly stuck their tongues out at the protesting footballers sitting in the stands.

Rachel allowed Puck to pull her away and carry her back to the field, leaving Tina to jog back with Mike. Her legs and arms unconsciously wrapped around him, forcefully stopping Noah from setting her down for their next play. She ripped his helmet off and kissed him soundly, happy to let everyone know whom he belonged to.

"You're mine, Puckerman," she told him when she pulled away. "Whether we win this game or not!"

He stood frozen and dazed for less than a second before his lazy grin stretched his lips once more and he leaned in for another quick kiss. "Okay, Berry." Though he drawled her name, there was a look in his eyes so intense that it sent a shiver down her spine. "It's a done deal. I'm yours."


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary****: "She slowly waved the can between the pair, daring them to follow her, before turning on her heel and sprinting towards the port-a-potties outside." Had Rachel been the one to find Puck. AU from Special Education**

**Together**

"How are you and Puck by the way, diva?"

Rachel braided Mercedes hair as she thought of her boyfriend. After a frantic three-way phone call from Kurt about his 'devastating news,' Rachel had invited the two of them to a sleepover at her house. Puck was none too pleased with being cancelled on, but she knew it was important with the way Kurt sounded. He'd have to understand. It turned out Blaine Anderson, the boy that Kurt was crushing hard on, was trying to get the Warblers to serenade some boy at a Gap for Valentine's Day. After giving him advice, Mercedes pulled back and firmly stated that they didn't need men in the first place. Be that as it may, they were excited to hear about Rachel's successful romance.

"Good," Rachel sighed euphorically. "Really good. He said I'd totally love his song for me in Glee tomorrow."

Kurt bounced in his place. "Oh, right, the greatest love song assignment! Mercedes told me all about it earlier. What do you think he'll sing?"

"I don't know! A song from a Broadway show maybe? Or… or maybe a classic rock ballad. Whatever it is, I just know it'll be perfect."

"I still can't believe Puckleberry is endgame," Mercedes pondered. "I mean it makes sense. You two have such great chemistry together but wow. Who knew Rachel Berry would be the one to tame the beast. You know what you'll be singing to him yet?"

"Of course," Rachel responded immediately. "Now, I know he and I have only been together for a month-"

"Officially," Kurt cut in. "You guys have been tied to each other since you dumped Finn."

"The point is this might sound crazy-"

Mercedes pulled a face. "You fell in love with Finn after he sang three words from a Grease song. What could be crazier than that?"

Rachel glared at them as they laughed at her. "But Noah really feels like… the one. And when I think of him, it's not just the romance in my mind. He's been my best friend for months and for some ludicrous reason, even though he's dating the school pariah, he still thinks he's not good enough for me."

"Uhm, he isn't?" Kurt held his hands up in defense. "Rachel, he bullied you for two years before getting his act together and realizing you were going to be the best thing that could ever happen to him. Of course he's gonna feel like an asshole for a while."

"Well, I don't want him to! He's changed. I want him to to start having a better opinion of who he is, you know? Realize that he's a better person now... I want him to know that no matter what he thinks of himself, I really like him and want to be with him. For the long haul."

"I never thought I'd see the day you were well and truly over Finn."

She nodded slowly. "Yeah. Yeah, falling in love again does that to you I guess."

They both squealed girlishly at her admission and she allowed them to wrap her in a bear hug. "So?" Mercedes persisted. "Your song?"

"Well… Barbra Streisand's 'My Man.' What do you think? Will he like it?"

Kurt nodded fervently. "Oh, it'll be amazing! Cedes, you'll have to record it for me. And record Puck's too! I need to see the self-proclaimed 'Original Badass' Noah Puckerman all soft over a girl."

The next day at glee, Rachel's hand was clamped around Mercedes phone like talons, blocking the camera lens so she wouldn't be able to record the performance. To say she was excited for his performance was an understatement, and she had high expectations after his cocky proclamation. She was right in guessing he would do a Broadway show, but this was not at all what she was expecting from her boyfriend. She was going to murder him. She was going to strangle him. She… she was going to tell his mother!

Noah's idea of the greatest love song he could dedicate to her was his version of "Sugar Daddy" from Hedwig and the Angry Inch, or "Sugar Mama" as it was in this case.

Was this seriously his take on romance?

And why the hell was everyone dancing and singing along with him?

She finally let go of Mercedes' phone when Noah came up to her, one step below the riser her seat was on. He propped a leg up next to her and began rolling his body into her, popping his hips against the side of her knees every few seconds. Her face turned red and he grinned, mistaking her anger for bashfulness or embarrassment.

"Oh, he's gonna get it," Santana snickered behind her.

"_Come on sugar mama take me home," _he belted out, holding the last word at the end for a few bars. She was momentarily distracted from her annoyance when she happily noted he had been practicing his breathing techniques, but the song was over and his cocky nod at her fueled her fury once more.

"So, mama? What did you think?"

The girls waited with baited breath, knowing Rachel was about to have one of her classic freak-outs. Finn, who seemed to be having the hardest time adjusting to their new relationship, was eager to see her reaction.

"Rach?"

She glared at him and growled his name. "Noah, you- you… I... PUCKERMAN!" Rachel grabbed her bag off the floor and pushed past him. "I'm your _sugar daddy_?! Ugh, happy Valentine's Day, jerk!" She stormed out of the room, Mercedes and Tina shouting for her to wait as they chased after her.

"Very romantic, Puckerone," Santana laughed. "I'm sure Berry will include this in her vows when you two get married."

His jaw dropped a bit. "Wh- I thought she'd like it!"

"God, you're an idiot. _Why _would you think she would like that?" Quinn snorted. "Have fun being single for V-day."

Puck blanched, not feeling any better when Mr. Schue tried consoling him by saying he gave a spectacular performance despite what he considered a love song. "Uh, Mr. Schue. Mind if I go find her?"

"Go ahead."

Despite his best efforts, Rachel refused to talk to him for the rest of the day. It wasn't that she was quite as angry as before, but definitely embarrassed. She was going to sing "My Man" for him, and he had given her a song about loving someone for their money? Had he even listened to the rest of the song? She knew without a doubt that he thought more of her than that.

...Didn't he?

For a second night in a row, Mercedes and Kurt were sleeping over at her house, this time with Santana and Tina in tow. "So he fudged up the song, Berry," Santana started, digging into the tub of ice cream that was sitting in the middle of the blankets and pillows laid out on the floor. The others glanced at each other, all rather irritated at the way the cheerleader had arrived at the Berry house, walked in, and took over the party as if it was hers. "And despite it being overwhelmingly hilarious to me, he obviously doesn't see you as one of those cougars he used to bang left and right. Or maybe he does. What would I know about love? I can't even get Brittany to leave Wheels."

"Why are you even here, Santana?" Kurt spat, annoyed when her words had Rachel deflating even more. "We didn't invite you."

"I heard Berry talking to Girl Chang about it-"

"My name's _Tina_-"

"And what's a little sleepover without some Lopez. Besides, Rachel and I are friends now, so she doesn't care."

Rachel frowned irritably. "You forced me to go to the mall with you, ditched me halfway, and have barely spoken to me since."

Santana rolled her eyes but had the decency to look uncomfortable. "Okay so… maybe I knew Rachel and you guys wouldn't judge me for admitting to having a crush on B, what with Lady Hummel being one of your closest friends and Rachel having two dads... And yes I've felt lonely because I haven't been able to talk to anyone about it. So, sure, I forced myself into one of your cry-athons. Sue me."

They nodded at each other and, coming to a silent agreement, reached over to squeeze Santana's shoulder. "We won't tell anyone, alright?"

Shegave them a rare, genuine smile. "Alright, now can we go back to Berry's problem? It's much more fun focusing on other people's issues."

"Star, honey!"

They all looked towards the stairs where the heard Mr. Berry calling for Rachel. "Yes, daddy?"

"Noah's up here looking for you!"

She gasped. They looked at her in surprise. "Didn't you tell him not to bother you tonight?" Tina asked, knowing that the couple usually hung out after school. "Strike that, shouldn't he know not to bother you when you're mad?"

"Daddy! Did you tell him I have company?"

Leroy came down a few steps and gave her a stern look. "Rachel Barbra." She grimaced at his tone. "You know better than to send someone away without explanation. Don't be rude. Just come on up and tell him what's going on. He drove all this way to see you."

She scowled. "He doesn't even live far!"

Leroy ignored her and went back up, closing the door behind him. She stood, reaching for the hoodie by her feet. Santana grabbed it and tossed it aside. "Nope. Let him see you like that."

Rachel looked down at her clothes. She was wearing Noah's old jersey from freshman year that no longer fit him and a pair of his boxers he had jokingly left at her house as a one-month anniversary present. They all teased her for the outfit, but irate with him or not, his clothes were comfy. "He can't see me like this!"

Santana gave her a look over and nodded. "You're right." She pulled her hair tie out, got off the floor and forced Rachel to turn around. Swiftly, she tied the jersey up so that her midriff was showing. "Alright, now you can go."

"Santana!"

"Go, Berry! Get him out of here already so we can get back to making fun of him and his lame attempt at a serenade."

Pressured by the others, who physically pushed her towards the stairs, she ran up and found him pacing back and forth in the foyer. "What are you doing here, Noah?"

Relief flooded his face. "Rach, I just wanted-" He tensed when he saw her. "Rachel," he croaked. "Holy fuck, you look hot."

She sent a glance upward and sighed, valiantly pretending that he wasn't slowly reaching into his pants to adjust himself. "Right, well if that's all you had to say, I'll be going back downstairs to my friends. I'll see you tomorrow."

"No, Rach wait!" Noah grabbed her waist before she could run and he smiled playfully. "Come on, mama. Don't be mad at me. I'm sorry."

She rolled her eyes, her arms settling on top of his. "I'm not mad at you, Noah. Questioning what exactly you're looking for in this relationship, maybe-"

"Nothing," he responded hurriedly. "I'm not looking for anything like that. All I want is you, Rach, I swear."

Rachel stared at him, and for a moment he was sure he was about to be kicked out, but then she pinched his side and gave him a big pout. "Well then why did you sing that song?!"

"You're dating an idiot, Rachel. My guess is as good as yours. And for what it's worth, I am sorry. I didn't mean to embarrass you or anything. Guess Q was right last year, about Finn being a better everything than I am." He chuckled, staring at the floor as if he had never seen a carpet before. "At least people still like him, but you got stuck with the Jock turned Gleek that everyone hates. Guess it's cause he isn't as big of a fuck up as I am. Sorry 'bout that." There was a playfulness in his tone, but she could tell he was being serious.

She sighed, hating how he always put himself down, something he did very frequently through what she once thought were just jokes. She dropped her forehead against his chest and kissed him through his shirt. "You're not an idiot. And I would rather have ten of you than one Finn." He seemed so genuinely happy with her statement that it melted her heart.

"So, I'm forgiven? You aren't breaking up with me for being a moron? I'm still you're number one? Your main squeeze? Your mack daddy?"

Rachel didn't bother to hide her amusement. "Nothing to be forgiven, Noah. I like you, silly love songs and all. And stop calling yourself names, you know I hate when you do that!" She stood on her toes to give him a sweet, lingering kiss. "Though if you call yourself a mack daddy again, I will totally consider dumping your butt. I really do have to go back downstairs though, alright?"

"Berry, you choose those losers over my hot, dimpled-butt and we're through," Puck threatened. She turned in his arms and pushed him away with her own bottom, knowing he wasn't serious with his threat but would take the gesture as her apology. The groan she elicited from him proved her right.

"See you at glee, big papa."

* * *

"Rachel? You're up to bat."

Rachel smiled brightly as she got up from her chair and stood in front of the glee clubbers. "Hello, peers. As…lovely as my partner's song was yesterday, I do believe I have chosen one of if not _the _greatest love song. Noah?" She waited for him to meet her gaze. "I know you have your doubts, but this song conveys exactly how I feel about you so, this one is for you."

Brad cued her in with a climb up the keys. The song would be simple with just Brad there today, most of the band members too busy to come in, but she thought it was perfect with just the piano.

"_Oh my man, I love him so, he'll never know."_

She watched him sit up and lean forward to listen to her. With every line, he grew more and more entranced. She'd never seen him so hypnotized before, and it made her giddy to know it was by her doing. Mercedes was right. Who knew she would be the one to tame him? The key changed and she began giving all her power into the song, hoping everyone in the hallway could hear her utter devotion to Noah Puckerman.

"_When he takes me in his arms, the world is bright, alright! _

_What's the difference if I say I'll go away when I know _

_I'll come back on my knees someday." _

She wasn't surprised to feel tears welling in her eyes, but was definitely startled to see him looking at her so love-struck he barely looked like himself. There was a look in his eyes, caring and possessive at the same time, that she was sure mirrored the same gleam in hers. Everyone else felt it as well, and there was no denying it. Rachel and Noah belonged to each other.

"_For whatever my man is, I am his, forevermore!"_

Mercedes's hand trembled as she continued to hold her camera phone up. Kurt definitely wouldn't appreciate her shoddy recording, but she couldn't help it. "Praise," she whispered when Rachel flawlessly hit the last nigh note.

They all roared with applause when she finished, not that she noticed. Rachel was too busy slinking up to her boyfriend, who for once didn't have a coy glimmer in his eyes or a smug comment ready about knowing she was obsessed with him from the start. Instead, he pulled her down into his lap, kissed her softly and smiled.

"I am so in love with you, Berry."

"Well, consider yourself a lucky man, Puckerman," she murmured. "Because I'm pretty into you too."

"Mr. Schue," he called out. "I was hoping you'd let me redo my assignment. I found a better song to do."

Will nodded happily. "Floor's yours, Puck."

Rachel expected him to make her stand so he could get up, but he hoisted her up into his arms, kicked his chair to the middle of the room and sat back down with her. "Artie? Finn?" She watched the two boys come down and take their places with the guitar and drums respectively. Finn gave her a sheepish shrug and a smile. "He's a sucker for making you happy," Noah whispered in her ear. "It didn't take long for me to convince him to help me out. Also, I think he's mackin' on Q again. Told him he had to help me or I'd fess on him."

Rachel's jaw dropped and she glanced between Noah, Finn, and the blond couple that was sitting in front of them. "Noah," she hissed. "What the hell! You're helping them have a-"

He turned his grin to their friends. "Alright guys, this one's for my girl. And no, it's not about making all her wild, naughty fantasies come true if she buys me cool things. "

"Noah! I don't have any-! I mean he's-!"

"It's about being paid with love." He became serious. He gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Which is all I'll ever want from you... and also your kick ass vocals. Sing with me." He nodded at Finn, who led the others into the song.

Rachel bounced in his lap when she heard what they were playing, causing a reaction from Puck that he tried desperately to ignore. For the second time within twenty-four hours, he felt the room in his jeans getting smaller and smaller.

"_Live in my house, I'll be your shelter. Just pay me back with one thousand kisses_," She cooed. _"Be my lover. I'll cover you."_

The brilliant smile on her face made him forget his desire to skip the song and drag her to an empty classroom.

"_Open your door, I'll be your tenant. Don't got much baggage to lay at your feet." _His flinched jokingly, knowing he had a huge past that she had to deal with, but she stroked his cheek with her fingertips, wordlessly telling him none of it mattered to her. _"But sweet kisses I've got to spare. I'll be there, and I'll cover you." _

Everyone hummed along and danced in their seats. Puck got up and began twirling Rachel around the room as they sang to each other. She felt her heart flutter at the thought of him choosing what he surely thought was a cheesy song from Rent over a classic rock song that he would have definitely preferred.

"_You'll be my king, and I'll be your castle_."

He shook his head playfully and spun her into a tight embrace. His arms wrapped around her torso and he rested his chin on her shoulder. Noah kissed her neck quickly before continuing. _"No, you'll be my queen, and I'll be your moat." _

"_I think they meant it when they said you can't buy love_

_Now I know you can rent it, a new lease you are my love._

_On life, all my life._

_I've longed to discover something as true as this is." _

Mr. Schue couldn't stop himself from bopping his head with his students. How had he not noticed how amazing their voices sounded together? Listening to the boy who usually provided backup vocals, he began thinking of songs that he could feature Puck more.

Noah brought her hand up in dance hold and swayed back and forth with her. _"So with a thousand sweet kisses_."

She trailed her hand up his arm to his shoulder. _"When you're cold and you're lonely." _

"_With a thousand sweet kisses." _

"_You've got one nickel only! With a thousand sweet kisses." _

He brought his forehead down to hers and pecked the tip of her nose. _"When you're worn out and tired." _

"_With a thousand sweet kisses."_

"_When your heart has expired." _

"_Oh, lover, I'll cover you! Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!" _They sang. _"Oh lover… I'll cover you."_

They bowed to their friends who were clapping for them. "Better, little mama?"

"Perfect, big papa."


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary****: "She slowly waved the can between the pair, daring them to follow her, before turning on her heel and sprinting towards the port-a-potties outside." Had Rachel been the one to find Puck. AU from Special Education**

**Rifts**

"Hudson, you overgrown, bumblefuck, goofy-looking dumbass!"

Finn was crouched next to Rachel, trying his best to ignore the tirade that Puck was still going off on. When Mr. Schue announced they'd be going through "Booty Camp" to sharpen their dancing skills, he knew he'd have trouble, but he imagined twisting his ankle or breaking his leg. Something that would hurt himself, not another person. "I'm so sorry! Are you okay?!"

"I'm bleeding," she answered, her voice trembling. Puck, who had paused to hear her answer, flew into another flurry of curse words, all directed at Finn.

"You broke my girlfriend's nose, you doofy-ass bitch!"

"Puck! Language!" Mr. Schue snapped. "Come on, Rachel, we should get you to a doctor."

"This is all my fault," Puck bemoaned. "I forced you to switch spots with me so I could stare at your ass while you danced."

"I knew it, you pig!" she spat, flinching when a sharp pain spiked through the center of her face. "Noah," she whimpered.

He was at her side instantly, sliding his arms around the back of her knees and her rear. She wrapped her own arms around his shoulders and he carried her off the stage. Announcing he would take her to the doctor and call them with an update, he kicked the auditorium door open and ran her down the hallway. "Don't worry, mama. Nothing's gonna happen to your beautiful face."

"I can walk, Noah."

"Don't care."

Sure enough, besides the car ride, her feet stayed in the air until they were at the doctor's office. An hour later, the doctor informed them that her nose was indeed broken before trying to convince her to consider getting a nose job. If Rachel thought Puck had been at his angriest with Finn, she was wrong. Noah nearly made the man wet himself with fear when he ripped him a new one for implying that Rachel was anything but beautiful. Once again, he was carrying her away, this time to drive her home.

"I can't believe that fucker!" he gritted out. "I'm gonna take his schedule book and shove it up his ass for saying that shit to you."

"I don't know, Noah…"

He glanced at her before looking down the road again. "You don't know what?"

"…Maybe he's right." Puck slammed on the breaks and pulled the car over with a jolt. "Noah! What in God's name-!"

He put the car in park and turned to her. "Maybe he's right? Are you serious right now?"

She sighed and fiddled with her sleeves. "I mean… he said it could improve my singing and… I dunno. Looking prettier would be an added bonus, I guess."

Puck scoffed. "Rachel, you're out of your mind. First off, you have the most amazing voice in history. Fuck Streisand. Second, you're the hottest chick on this planet. You don't need a fucking nose job."

Rachel shrugged, having a hard time believing him. "It's just, I heard some cheerios in the bathroom talking about how you're super out of my league, and they're right. Dad and Daddy are rich… I don't see why I couldn't at least consider it. Go to a consultation or something."

"There's nothing to _consult _on, Rachel! Your nose has been passed down from generation to generation as a birthright! It's a sign of the survival of our people!"

"This has nothing to do with our religion, Noah," she said with a roll of her eyes.

"Listen to me, I refuse to date a girl that would get a nose job!" Her jaw dropped and Puck knew he had unintentionally dived straight into hot water. "Wait, no, that came out wrong! I meant you aren't the kind of girl that would do something like that, Rach! You're strong and confident and you definitely don't need this shit to prove yourself to anyone!"

"Take me home now," she told him, an eerie calm in her voice.

"Rachel-"

"Just take me home, Puck!"

She didn't talk to him all weekend, and honestly he was too annoyed to talk to her as well. His anger with her only grew when she began discussing it with the others, as if it was really going to happen. Every time she gave them a progress report, he ended up yelling that she was being an idiot, she would shout about him trying to control decisions about her body, and would end with him blaming Finn for breaking her nose in the first place. And if that wasn't enough, he began fighting with Quinn when he found out she was coughing over pictures of her nose as if they were damn blueprints or something.

"Keep your nose out of my girlfriend's business, Fabray!" he growled after snatching up the composite pictures Rachel passed around the room and ripping them all up. "Berry, I need to talk to you outside. Now."

"I have nothing to say to an unsupportive-"

He grabbed her arm roughly, past caring what the others would think of his manhandling. "This is insane, Rachel," he hissed when they got to the hallway. "Despite what you think, I've been pretty damn nice about this even though you're reaching a new level of batshit crazy. Now, I'm _begging_ you. Don't do this. This isn't about your voice. This is about how you're feeling on the outside and I hate that you look in the mirror and see something ugly when all I see is my unreasonable, insane, stupid, gorgeous girlfriend."

She softened at his words, despite the angry insults that she was sure he didn't truly mean. "Noah…"

"I love you, and I'd love you even if you were busted as fuck, Rachel." She bit the inside of her cheek, wondering how he had gotten so many girls in his bed with the way he spoke. "And those guys in there, believe it or not, are your friends and love you just as much as I do. And Broadway's gonna love you for you, and so will New York and Hollywood, and whatever the hell else place you'll be taking over when we get out of this cow town."

Rachel squeezed his hand and brought it up to her lips to give his knuckles a gentle peck. "This was our first fight."

He nodded. "Yeah, you're right… and it sucked so let's not make a habit of it. Sorry for being such a douche this week."

"Sorry for not talking this through with you civilly. Just give me some time to think about all of this."

The look on his face told her that the conversation was far from over.

"Here." She crossed her pinky with his. "I promise that from now on, we won't let disagreements grow into full blown fights like they did this time, okay? We'll talk about it like grown adults and neither one of us will go all 'Thunderdome' on each other." He smirked. "Sounds good?"

"Sounds good, Berry."

It turned out she didn't need much time. With some help from Kurt, a flash mob, and Noah dancing around her like a stripper during a Barbra-vention, she thankfully cancelled her appointment.

* * *

"Noah, for the last time, I didn't say yes to him, I don't know why he ignored me and came anyway, and I _never _promised him a dance! I think he really is trying to make up for what he's done, you know? Is it so hard to think that a guy might just want to be friends with a girl?"

"Well then why does St. Douche think he's your freaking prom date, Rachel?!"

Rachel stomped her foot before chasing Noah down the hallway. Jesse St. James had come back to apologize and, in Puck's opinion, win her back even though he knew she had a boyfriend. "Would you slow down?!" He ignored her. "Noah! Where are you even going?! You're supposed to be on the stage in ten minutes! You're nominated for prom king, you can't just storm out! Papa!"

He growled. She knew how much he loved hearing her call him that. Finally, he stopped and allowed her to take his hands in hers. "I'm sorry, alright? He just pisses me off. I mean, who the hell does he think he is, coming in here after egging you like that? And he had the nerve to say that _I_ was the one who-"

He cut himself off.

"What? Said what? What did he say to you?"

Noah rolled his eyes, pretending he didn't actually care about whatever Jesse had to say. "He may have said something along the lines of a criminal not deserving future Broadway royalty like you."

"Oh, Noah," she sighed. "And you believed him? Come on. Let's go back, okay? Show him just how perfect you are." Rachel batted her eyelashes at him and stroked his biceps languidly.

He smirked. "Papa like's the sound of that. One question…. Who was better in Run Joey Run?" Rachel rolled her eyes and threw her hands up in defeat. "Tell me or I'll kick the crap out of him!"

Her tone was robotic when she answered him. "You were the best, Puck. It was silly of me to include Jesse and Finn when you so obviously are the sexiest, badass-est man in all of Ohio. Nay, in all the world."

"Flattery will get you everywhere, Rachel Berry."

He threw an arm around her waist and guided her back to the gym, set on making up for his tantrum.

Of course, that didn't last long when, whilst preforming on stage, he saw Jesse try to kiss his girlfriend. It took him less than five minutes to get ejected from the prom for punching the sucker's face in. Noah listened to Rachel yelling at him about violence and juvie the entire car ride home and in her house as well. Leroy and Hiram had to hide in their rooms to avoid Rachel's shouts when they tried defending Noah's actions. "I don't care how _valiant _it was that he was trying to save me! Violence is never the answer!" He wisely decided not to mention her throwdown with Azimio, figuring it would only anger her further to call her a hypocrite.

The thirty-minute lecture was worth scaring that shit for brains asshole away, but it definitely wasn't worth ruining Rachel's junior prom.

She forgave him when he brought her to her room, stuck his iPod on her dock and played all her favorite slow ballads for them to dance to. They heard Dave Karofsky was crowned prom king, but Puck felt like a winner when Rachel grabbed her Little Miss Lima crown off of her dresser and held it in place on top of his head.

* * *

Shelby Corcoran's return to Lima had Rachel and Noah on the outs.

It wasn't like any of their usual fights. There were no explosive arguments or heated glares. Instead, a thick tension developed between them that neither wanted to acknowledge. Noah and Quinn were desperate to be in Shelby's good graces so that she'd allow them to see Beth. Rachel wanted nothing more than to avoid her biological mother and the daughter she had replaced her with. Noah didn't want Rachel to think he didn't understand why she felt the way she did, and Rachel didn't want him to think he wasn't allowed to see his daughter just because of her own personal feelings against Shelby. The awkwardness between them grew tenfold when New Directions was divided. Rachel lay blame on Shelby's encouragements to the Unholy Trinity and Mercedes, while Puck remained silent for the sake of his daughter.

They sat together in the choir room, waiting for the rest of their team to show up.

"I'm not mad at you."

"I... good. Thanks."

"I just needed you to know because I wasn't sure if you thought… but I'm not. I absolutely understand you making nice with Shelby for your daughter. I think it's sweet, Noah."

He kissed her cheek. "Just so you know, Rach, though I appreciate what she's done for Beth, I totally rub it in her schnoz that she's missing out on her super amazing, future star of a daughter. I play your videos as lullabies for Beth, act like I totally forget you're her biological kid. You should see the look on Shelby's face whenever she hears you."

Rachel grinned widely. "What's it like?"

"Regretful."

She beamed even brighter. Of course Shelby was regretful. Rachel Berry wasn't one to be forgotten.

"Thank you, Noah. So we're good, right?"

He nodded then took a deep breath. "There is something I have to tell you, though."

"Anything."

"Well… you can hardly blame me though, Rachel. You know I've been a cougar magnet since sophomore year."

She paled, wondering where he was going. "And?"

"I'm pretty good at noticing when a lady's digging me, and… I don't know, Rach. I think your mom wants a piece of the Puckasaurus Rex."

In retrospect, he realized he probably should've worded it differently, but he didn't know Rachel would have a damn psychotic episode once he came out with what was bothering him. By the time the rest of their team walked in, she was still yelling. "I get that you're being nice for Beth, but maybe you can tone it down a bit, Puck!"

"What's that supposed to mean?!" He scowled. "It's not like I'm hitting on her, Berry!"

"How would you know?! You do remember you're the man whore of Lima, Ohio, right? Flirting is imbedded so deep into your brain, you probably wouldn't even realize you were putting the moves on her or not until you have one hand down her pants and the other on her boob!"

Noah stiffened. He glanced at the others and saw them either giving him pitying frowns or nodding in agreement with Rachel. "Fuck this." Hurt and humiliated, he grabbed his letterman in one hand and kicked his chair away as he stormed out, blocking out the sound of Rachel's apologies.

There weren't many times Rachel skipped glee, but with the right reason she would. Frantically looking all over the school for her boyfriend so she could say sorry for her behavior was one. She saw his car in the parking lot and knew that even if he were angry, he would never leave her alone at school. He'd proven that time and again with uncomfortable rides home after spats blown out of proportion. It took her an hour and a half to find him. He hadn't been at the football field, the bleachers, the weight room or the nurse's office, all the usual places she would have expected him to go to. Instead, she found him in one of the clubrooms, sitting on a table and tossing a balloon up in the air.

"Took you long enough," he said when she walked in.

"Noah, I'm so sorry," she began hastily. He caught the balloon and held it down on the table, raising a brow at her.

"For what? All you did was say the truth. I'm a man whore. Nothing new there. Not like I've been completely faithful to you for a year now. Not like I haven't looked sideways at a girl since you agreed to go out with me."

Rachel flinched. Guilt ate away at her heart. How could she have been so stupid as to use his past behavior against him when he was trying so hard to make up for it all?

She walked over to him, staring down at her feet shamefully before placing a hand on either side of his hips. "I was stupid for saying what I said. I've just been really stressed about her being back and hearing the possibility that she's attracted to my boyfriend has me flying off the handle. I don't think of you that way, Noah, nor do I think you capable of hurting me like that. Please... I'm so sorry."

Puck sighed. "It's so unfair when you do that doe-eyed crap. I can't stay mad at you when you do that."

"I'm sorry," she whispered again, her hands sliding up his thighs and to his chest.

"You know what room this is, Berry?"

Rachel looked around and nodded immediately. Most of the clubrooms were identical, but all the balloons lying around were a dead giveaway. "The Celibacy Club meets in here."

"Yeah. When you came into that meeting, that was the first time I realized that your mouth did more than sing annoying show tunes. Called the Head Bitch out on her hypocrisy and then strutted right out when you were done. Not gonna lie, even back then it was a total turn on to see you get fiery eyed and roid-rage on someone. Didn't really realize how big of a turn off it was when that shit's directed at you, though."

She groaned when he hopped off the table and tried to push past. "Noah, wait!"

"Uh, uh, Berry." He shoved the balloon between them so she couldn't get any closer. "Make room for the holy ghost, because I'm still mad. We'll talk later, alright? Just give me some time to cool down."

"No!"

Rachel's hands reached out lightening fast and grabbed his waistband to stop him from leaving.

Noah scoffed. "No?"

She couldn't believe what she was about to do, but she knew it would make him laugh at the very least, even if he was still angry for a bit longer. He always did enjoy watching her when she was out of her element. "Y-you know what I remember from that meeting?"

"What, Berry?"

Rachel gulped. She hadn't gone past heavy make out sessions and over-the-clothes petting, mainly because she wasn't ready yet. Puck respected that choice, fine with waiting for her. This attempt at getting his forgiveness could certainly mislead him, but she carried on. Besides, Noah was smarter than to think she would be throwing herself at him just to earn his forgiveness.

He repeated the question with irritation.

In response, she stretched her fingers out so that they splayed across his ass and gave a quick thrust against the balloon.

Noah's eyes bugged out. "B-Berry-"

She rolled her body, her thrusts growing longer as she gained her confidence. She remembered how hard he had tried to pop the balloon against Santana at that meeting. Trying her best to imitate him, she continued her ministrations. It didn't take long for her to fall into a rhythm she found herself enjoying just as much as him. She watched the balloon twist and contort between them, doing an amazing job at shifting the air within so it wouldn't burst. Rachel bit her lip with concentration and thrusted harder.

"_Oh fuc_-" In a lustful haze, she shoved him back and sent him to the wall. Placing the balloon back on his pelvis, she jumped onto him so that her thighs clamped down against the sides of his legs. He caught her easily, but the balloon popped between them when their bodies crashed together. "Rach!" he guffawed. "Christ, I don't know if that was hilarious or sexy."

"I'm sorry," she told him again. "Please forgive me, Noah. I don't want to be away from you any longer."

Noah groaned and, coming to a decision, cupped her cheek with his free hand. "God you're so spoiled, always getting what you want."

She giggled and wrapped her legs around his waist to steady herself while he carried her over to the table. "N-Noah…" she murmured as he sat her down.

"Yeah?"

"I… I mean it. I don't think I want to be away from you for much longer."

He stood there, trying to decipher what she was telling him. The meaning behind her words finally hit him seconds later.

* * *

"Wanna run that by me again?"

Rachel tilted her head and gave him a glare that screamed 'you know what I said, Puckerman.'

"So, you're going on a date. With someone that isn't _me_."

"Yes, Puck, the magic is gone between us. I want to test the waters again," she drawled. "I explained this to you, Noah. Twice before. Artie is questioning our ability to perform, and if Blaine and I want to look real for our audience, we need to develop the chemistry between us."

He irritably rubbed his mohawk with his free hand. When Rachel had asked him to go on a walk in the park with him, he didn't know it was so she could tell him she'd be going out with Blaine to prepare themselves for their roles as Maria and Tony. "You do understand why that bothers me, don't you?"

"Why would that bother you?"

"Dude. You're trying to amp up your sexual tension with Blaine."

"…A gay man."

"I don't care if he fucking prefers _chairs_, Rachel, you aren't going on a date with Anderson."

Rachel laughed at his behavior, finding it too hilarious to be mad. "Noah, you're being unreasonable! Kurt doesn't have a problem with this!"

"Kurt doesn't have a girlfriend that falls in love with whatever pretty voice comes next!"

She reached over to smack his chest. "Jerk."

"Look! You didn't even deny it!"

"I'm _not _gonna fall in love with Blaine!"

"The last time you two were out together was at your party, Berry, and you guys almost made out that night."

"I was drunk! He was drunk! You pulled me away in time! Besides, it's your fault for suggesting Spin the Bottle!"

"I've perfected the art of bottle spinning to land on who I want it to! How was I supposed to know that he'd land on you before my turn came up?!"

She gaped at him. "You have?!"

"That's not the point! Rach, you know I don't care that we haven't had sex yet." Rachel looked around wildly to make sure no one was listening. "And I'm sure as hell not gonna rush you into something like that, but it kind of bothers me to think of you mackin' on him. Pretend or not, I don't like picturing him being your boyfriend and _performing_ with you."

"I can understand that, but don't you think you're getting a little ahead of yourself, Noah? All we're doing is going to restaurants, shopping with each other… it's not like we're gonna be all alone in his room, practicing a sex scene that doesn't even exist in the play."

She had a point. He let out an exaggerated breath. "Fine! You can take Anderson on dates, but I have some ground rules."

"You may offer them to me for approval."

"No touching."

"What about hands?"

"Hands are fine, but that's it."

"Approved. Next."

"That whole not being alone in his room? Papa like. None of that."

"Sure. Next."

"Your dates don't last past six o'clock, seven the latest, so that when you're done, I get to de-Blaine you." Noah wiggled his eyebrows. "Approved?"

She gave him a coy smile. "Approved. Are we good now?"

"We're good." His left brow rose and he grinned. "Hey! This is the first time we've ended a fight without flipping out on each other."

"You're right… I think we're getting a hang of this relationship thing," she teased. "Love you, big guy."

"Love you, mama."

"Noah! You said you'd stop calling me that!"

"Come on! It's sweet!"

"It's weird!"

They yelled at each other for another few minutes, earning them stares from the people around them.

* * *

Much to Puck's chagrin, Blaine and Rachel had become best friends after the few weeks of "dating" each other. He was always with them when Kurt was busy with schoolwork or hanging out with Mercedes, something that Puck obviously minded more than Rachel who obliviously enjoyed Bow Tie's third-wheeling. It wasn't that he thought Blaine wasn't cool. Anderson had some awesome pipes and sweet dance moves, but he was totally harshing on the very limited alone time he got to have with his girlfriend. So when Blaine had for some reason told Sebastian Smythe about their set list for Regionals, he was the first one to accuse him of collusion.

"I'm not exactly comfortable having this conversation with Blaine in the room. Clearly once a Warbler, always a Warbler."

Blaine looked to Rachel and Kurt for support before turning his attention to Puck. "Uh… what?"

"Dude, you told them what we were going to do! You're like a modern day eggs Benedict! He's on notice, as far as I'm concerned." Noah nudged Rachel, asking for her vocal agreement, but she merely rubbed his arm to try and calm him down. Miffed, he refused to listen to whatever frou-frou, "being the bigger man" lame shit that Finn and Mr. Schue started spewing out. All he wanted to do was drive over to Dalton and beat the ever-living crap out of Smythe and his stupid haircut. When Blaine said something about "taking it to the streets," he suddenly had a change of opinion about the boy.

"Well, well, well! Looks like someone is finally seeing it my way." Puck reached over to ruffle Blaine's painstakingly sculpted hair. "And here I was, thinking about throwing you in the dumpster."

"… Okay, seriously, what?"

So a sing-off wasn't exactly what he expected, but he felt pretty badass in a darkened parking garage, showing the Warblers that New Directions were nothing to be messed with. Blaine's choreography was kickass too, so he was well on his way to forgiving Hair Gel for constantly invading the Puckleberry personal bubble and leaking the set list to his old team.

They were all ready to end the battle on a high note, the obvious winners, when they watched Sebastian cock his arm back, hand loaded with a slushie aimed for Kurt. Blaine, who had pushed his boyfriend out of the way, took the hit and immediately fell to the ground and wailed with pain as he desperately pawed at the ice in his eyes.

Puck had seen many slush-attacks, most of them being of his own doing, and he sure as hell knew that slushies didn't cause that much pain. The wrath on Finn's face told him the quarterback had come to the same conclusion.

Smythe had intentionally wanted to hurt Kurt.

Noah twitched when he saw the Warblers trying to run. "Oh hell no," he muttered, lunging forward and grabbing their front man by the lapels of his blazer. "You arrogant little fucker," he hissed.

"Get your hands off me!"

Sam and Mike were helping Kurt take Blaine back to his car, but the rest of the New Directions stood behind him, ready for a real fight if it broke out. "I've had it up to here with you, asshole! You see Frankenteen behind me? That's his brother you've been fucking around with, and Blaine's the Will to my girl's Grace, so you better prepare yourself for the world of hurt you're about to enter! I don't take too god damn kindly to people hurting me and my own!"

"Let him go, Puck," Finn spat. "We'll deal with this dick later."

Puck clenched his fingers around the fabric he was holding before shoving him away. "Run before he changes his mind, bitch." As expected, the Warblers ran as fast as their oxfords allowed them to. He shook in his spot, trying his best not to chase after them, when he felt Rachel come up behind him and hug him so that her arms gripped his stomach tightly. "You alright, mama? You were standing pretty close to them. Nothing got in your face did it?"

She shook her head against his back.

"Good."

Of course, his relief didn't last very long when, a few days later, Rachel didn't show up to glee. Apparently, Santana was planning on going to Dalton and confront the Warb-holes and Rachel had somehow convinced her to let her go instead. "And you agreed?!" Puck hissed. "What if he hurts her?!"

She didn't even look up from filing her nails. "Auntie Snix can only do so much, especially against your spitfire of a girlfriend, Puckerman. She refused to let me do it. Said it was her duty as Blaine's best friend to tear Smythe apart."

Puck grabbed the filer and hurled it across the room. "Listen to me, Lopez, if something happens to Berry, I'm gonna-"

"Santana, I did it! I did it!"

Everyone's attention turned to Rachel, whose white dress was stained red with cherry die. "What the fuck!" Puck roared. "I knew it! I'm gonna kill those-"

"No, Noah, I'm fine! But I did it!"

Santana rushed to lock the doors before holding her hands out in front of the tiny girl. "Cough it over, Berry!"

"What's going on?" Quinn asked from her seat.

Artie and Santana traded glances. "We sent Berry to Dalton to make Sebastian confess," she answered. "Initially, I was going to do it, but let's face facts. David Schwimmer here is totally more threatening than I am, or at least annoying enough to make any terrorist surrender. Like a song on loop, until driven to the brink of insanity."

"Your point, Lopez," Puck growled, unappreciative of the way she was insulting Rachel right after putting her in harm's way.

Rachel gave him a childlike grin. She reached into her dress, fishing around her chest a bit, before pulling out a silver tape recorder. "Santana taped it to my underboob!"

"You recorded Sebastian telling the truth?" Kurt gasped.

You touched my girlfriend's boobs?!" Puck bellowed.

"I watched," Brittany giggled.

Santana leered lecherously at the couple. "One boob, and assuming I'm correct about Virgin Mary Incarnate here, I'm gonna say you've only groped through the bra so let me be a good friend and describe it for you: pillowy, perky, and responsive."

"Santana!" Rachel admonished as she hugged Noah around his middle to stop him from attacking the cheerleader. "What matters is that we have the Warblers right where we want them!" Kurt interrupted Santana and Rachel when they excitedly began relaying their plan to send the tape to the authorities to lock Sebastian's ass in juvie, and instead ushered them all to the auditorium. Though the girls agreed that his idea wasn't as good as theirs, they were more than ready to make a fool out of Sebastian in front of his team.

When all of the Warblers but Sebastian had joined them on stage, Kurt tossed the tape at him, showing just how low below "public school kids" he really was.

"And don't get any ideas," Rachel sneered. "I made a copy just in case that one got damaged. One toe out of line and I'll send it to the police."

He was just about to give her an angry retort, but stopped himself when Puck slid up to her side. "Problem?"

Rachel cuddled against her boyfriend. "You met Noah the other night, right? Go ahead and try to fight me, Smythe. He's my second. I'll just tap him right in to open a can of whoop-ass all over your face."

"The Hebros. We're in tag-team fight club. Look us up." The others laughed at his joke.

Artie rolled up between them and Kurt. "Now, get the hell out of my auditorium."

Rachel jumped into Puck's arms when the Warblers were finally gone, following their wounded leader to try and talk some sense into him. "That was badass, Berry," Puck told her proudly. "We make a pretty good duo."

"Yeah, who knew yelling at other people instead of each other would be more fun."

He chuckled and ruffled her hair. "Come on, little mama. You owe me some boob action."

"I don't _owe _you anything, Puck!"


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary****: "She slowly waved the can between the pair, daring them to follow her, before turning on her heel and sprinting towards the port-a-potties outside." Had Rachel been the one to find Puck. AU from Special Education**

**Closer**

"Hold up," Santana cackled. Brittany gripped her hand and shook her head at her girlfriend, though she was trying to stop a smile from breaking out on her face as well. Rachel scowled when the others laughed at her. She knew that asking the girls for their advice was a bad idea, but she had no one else to turn to. "Is Rachel Berry finally giving up her Rachel cherry? Well, it only took you a whole damn year and then some."

"Ignore her, Rachel," Quinn stated firmly. The blonde gave Santana a pointed glare.

"But you aren't skipping out on my Valentine's Day party for it, are you, Rachel?" Sugar asked her with a tone that left no room for disagreement. "It would mean a lot to me if you saved having sex for _after _the Sugar Shack spectacular."

"Isn't that a bit cheesy?" Tina questioned. "To be giving it up on V-day? You should totally be non-mainstream and do it the day before. Or maybe the day after."

"I don't think Noah will care about how cheesy it is, Tina," Rachel groaned, dropping her head in her hands to hide her embarrassment. "Are you guys gonna give me some pointers or what? Because I really don't want to look stupid."

They all softened. "I'd give you advice, diva, but I'm in the same boat as you," Mercedes told her.

"And besides," Quinn began. She went to sit next to the girl. "You know Puck won't care about you being amazing in bed, Rachel."

"But _he _is!"

All traces of humor were gone from the choir room when they realized Rachel was bearing an insecure side of her that she rarely showed to anyone.

"How am I supposed to compare with all of the women he's been with? I-I'm inexperienced, I barely have boobs, and they're all so much better looking than-"

"Stop yourself right now, Berry," Santana ordered. "Let me be real with you for a second. Quinn, Brittany and I have called you pretty mean names in the past, yes, but you are _not _unattractive. In fact, I think we can all agree that you are out of Puck's league, and not just look-wise. He's ridic lucky to have you and there's no way he would think differently. Face it, Berry, someway or another you got the boy to love every last annoying thing about you. And, hello? You do have boobs. I've seen them. I'm touched them. They're awesome."

"I stare at them all the time," Brittany informed her.

They all gaped at her. "You what?" Tina sputtered.

Santana nodded in support. "She's totally the star of our threesome fantasies, next to Angelina Jolie and Jennifer Lopez."

"And Quinn."

Quinn's eyes widened at Brittany's confession. "And who now?"

"I'm gonna steer us back on track," Santana cut in quickly. "Berry, you don't need our advice. Besides, the only advice Brittany and I can give would make you out to be a licensed whore and then Puck will definitely know you did your unnecessary research. As much as it makes me vomit to say, he likes that innocence you got, so let him be the one to teach you all about the horizontal tango… and the vertical one. He's really good at doing it up against a wall. Or standing right in the middle of a room. Trust me, you're in good hands."

"Thank you, Santana," Rachel growled, annoyed with having to hear about her boyfriend's past sexcapades. "But I guess you guys are right… he wouldn't have waited so long if he cared about something silly like that, right?"

"Right. Besides, it's not like you haven't done _anything _with him, right? No need to be nervous now."

Kurt, her closest confidant next to Blaine, chose that moment to walk into the room. "Oh," he interjected. "They've gone as far as they possibly could go and still be able to call her a virgin."

"Kurt!" Rachel shrieked.

Kurt nodded thoughtfully. "Those two can be very creative when they want to be."

"Wanky," Santana grinned lecherously. "Tell Santana all about it, Berry."

She glared at the girl. "No!"

"Wha- not fair! You told Rainbow Brite!"

"Don't be jealous, Santana," Kurt jumped in. "Best friends talk about these kinds of things, right, Rachel? And in fairness, I hear most of it from Blaine, who hears most of it from Puck. It's a fair part of their conversations on the drive to fight club."

Rachel groaned, her humiliation growing tenfold. She'd given up on trying to make them quit fight club, but she was still getting into spats about their locker room talk. _"It's not like I'm giving details, Rachel!" _Puck had reasoned. _"I'm just talking to him about it to make sure I'm not crossing any lines with you. That I'm keeping you happy and satisfied."_ It was a good argument, but the smirk he had while delivering it set him back a mile.

"Wait! So does that mean you did it in the-"

"No!" she shouted. "Nor will we ever. Now shut _up, _Santana."

"Not that Puck would care to do that," Kurt giggled. "He's too busy enjoying Diva's non-existent gag reflex." Though he was worried about Blaine, who was still recovering from eye surgery, he thrilled at the opportunity to lovingly tease their friend. Noticing that the new information of Rachel's talents had the Latina cheerleader nearly foaming at the mouth, he took pity on the girl and moved on swiftly. "Did you ask them when you should do it? Valentine's or his birthday next week?"

"Birthday!" Santana immediately blurted out, bouncing in her seat. "Jeremih his ass and give him some birth. Day. Sex." She punctuated each syllable with a thrust of her hips, the other girls laughing and joining in with her when she got up and began. In the middle of begging them all to stop, Kurt pulled her to the group and they all danced around her. In spite of herself, she gave into the merriment, allowing Santana to grind her from behind and sing into her ear.

"_Girl you know I-I-I, girl you know I-I-I_

_Don't need candles and cake, just need your body to make_

_Birthday sex. Birthday sex."_

She swayed her hips and brought her forearms up to Kurt's shoulders when he got in front of her. "Come on, Rachel," he teased. "Give him that _birthday sex, birthday-"_

Mr. Schuester cleared his throat loudly from the door, making the entire room freeze. Rachel shoved Santana and Kurt away, mortified that their teacher had caught them all in such a position. Behind her, Santana was laughing so hard that Rachel was sure she'd be choking for air. "Would you shut up?" she hissed at the girl, but all Santana could do was point to their teacher.

Rachel searched for the cause of the cheerleader's fit.

Standing behind Mr. Schue was the rest of new directions, minus her boyfriend. None of them were sure of when their team had walked in, but it was clear from their knowing smirks that they had heard enough to know what was going on.

"H-hello, everyone," Rachel stuttered, trying desperately to save face. "Uhm…"

"Let's just start, alright?" Mr. Schue told her. She gave him a sharp nod. He ushered everyone into the room and waited for them to settle down in their seats, making it a point to hurry anyone that lingered by Rachel. "Alright guys, leave her alone. Anyone got a song to present for this week's assignment?"

Noah jogged into the room and plopped down next to her chair. "Sorry I'm late. Slept through my alarm, or maybe I forgot to set it on. Whatever it was, the nurse gave me the comfy bed today so naturally-"

Rachel clicked her tongue. "Noah, I thought you were going to stop skipping class!"

"Uh oh, someone's been a bad boy," Santana exclaimed gleefully. "Berry's never gonna give you your birthday present now."

Rachel sunk in her seat as laughter surrounded them, Mr. Schue trying to calm everyone once more. Kurt, who was on the other side of her, squeezed her hand to show his support.

Noah gave her a questioning smile, trying to find the humor in the situation. "What's up with them?"

The room fell into another round of hysterics and Noah had to grab Rachel by the waist to stop her when she tried to climb over her chair and jump on Santana.

* * *

"_So? You ready yet?" _

_Blaine was lying on Rachel's bed, back against the headboard and his hands behind his head. She had taken him lingerie shopping and, though he tried his best to push the options he had chosen for her, Rachel had gone with a vintage, sheer babydoll nightie. Its square neckline was outlined with lace straps and small circles perforated the entire gown, making it even more see through. _

"_Rachie, I'm getting bored out here." _

"_Alright, alright!" she called out from her bathroom. "I'm done." _

_He sat up straighter and cleared his throat. "Come on out, mama," he called to her. Mustering up his best impression of Noah, he hunched his shoulders and stared at his biceps. _

_Rachel slid out and stood in the doorway with her hands behind her back. She bit her lip and gave him a tentative smile. "So? How do I look?" _

_She was wearing a white lace bra and high-waisted underwear beneath the babydoll. The dress brushed just above mid-thigh and, surprisingly, it was one of the sexiest things Blaine had ever seen. _

"_Papa like," he breathed out, his posture drooping slowly. "Oh my god, Rachel… it's stunning. Like a risqué take on the Grease sleepover. Puck will love this." _

"_You're sure?" she stammered. "He won't like one of the ones you picked out better?" _

_He shook his head. "No, honey, I was wrong. It's perfect. He'll fall to his knees when he sees it."_

_Rachel grinned. She skipped over to her closet, pulled the gown off and placed it on her chair. "Turn," she ordered. _

_Blaine rolled his eyes. "Rachel I've seen you in your underwear before today. I don't even know why you insisted on changing in the bathroom."_

"_For the reveal! Now turn!" He rolled his eyes and pulled the eye patch back down before turning on his side. "Excited to surprise Kurt tonight?" _

"_You know it! Mercedes and Britt are still in to help with the song, right?" he asked over his shoulder._

"_Yep! We're gonna run up to the stage when Sugar announces you. Okay, look at me." He examined the dress she was wearing. "Good?"_

"_Very pretty," he told her as she carefully folded her lingerie and put it in a pink, heart-shaped gift bag. Her plan was to give it to Noah as a present when they got back to her empty house. Her father's were away on a Valentine's Day trip and knowingly told her to "be safe," much to her embarrassment. "Oh sweetie," Blaine sighed. He took her hands in his when she sat next to him. "This is going to be the best Valentine's Day ever."_

"You couldn't do it?"

Rachel groaned into her pillow, too embarrassed to pull back and face her friend. The party at the Sugar Shack had been amazing. Noah had shown up at her door holding a necklace up for her appraisal, a gold star dangling from the chain. He hardly realized how many girls were flirting with him, his focus solely on Rachel while they danced and sang together the entire night. The dim lamp in the corner of her room set the mood perfectly once they got home, but-

"I couldn't do it," she echoed miserably. Blaine frowned but waited patiently for her to continue. "I don't know, Blainey… everything was perfect but I chickened out! I- I told him that his present got lost in the mail and that I would make it up to him." She turned to lie on her back, rubbing her eyes with frustration. "Of course Noah being the amazing boyfriend that he is, told me he didn't even expect me to get him a present, nor did he care for a material one. He honestly thought his present was getting to sleep next to me."

"Aww," Blaine cooed, a dreamy haze in his eyes. He grinned sheepishly when she glared at him. "Listen, Rachel, don't beat yourself up for this. Puck would've hated himself if you forced yourself to do something you weren't ready for."

She clicked her tongue. "That's the problem, Blaine. I _was _ready. I'm so ready, I'm about to burst from the seams!" With a groan, she plopped her head down onto his thigh.

He laughed but stroked her hair softly. "So? What happened, then?"

Rachel shrugged, reaching down to toy with the hem of her skirt. "I guess… I'm still scared about being bad."

"Being bad? You mean like...sinning or?"

"No! I mean..." She rolled her eyes though her cheeks reddened. "Messing _it _up because I'm so… because I'm such… because I'm a virgin."

"Oh, honey," Blaine sighed. He slid back until he was leaning on Rachel's headboard then pulled her into a tight hug. "Everyone's nervous about their first time, but Puck would never blame you for being innocent," he chuckled. "It's not about being an expert, Rachel. It's about finally having that deeper connection with someone you care about, and even if he has to give you a play by play and walk you through it-" She snorted. "He wouldn't care. He loves you, Rachie. Not your sexual prowess."

"I know," she murmured. "I know, but I just don't want to ruin it for him."

"Rachel, you could walk in dressed as a banana and I think he'd still want to do you." They laughed with each other, some of her sadness ebbing away. "The best thing I can tell you, Rach, is just talk to him about it. Let him know what you're afraid of and, trust me, he'll take care of you." Blaine puffed his chest with pride. "I would know. I _am_ his best friend.

She mocked a frown. "It's so unfair that he stole you from me. You were _mine _before you were his."

"I refuse to choose between mommy and daddy." Rachel poked his side sharply, knowing it would tickle him. He flinched away from her with a laugh. "You know, you could talk to him about it tonight, invite him over again since daddies aren't going to be home again… or you could wait till next Saturday and give him that birthday sex."

Rachel gaped at him. "They told you about that?!"

"Oh come on! Do you really think Kurt didn't immediately text me about it? Mr. Schue must've had an aneurism."

"We do not talk about that incident!"

"I can't believe Puck _still _doesn't know what happened. Can I tell him?"

"No!"

"Oh, please?! He gets so flustered when he thinks about you doing naughty things. It's so funny!"

"Blaine Devon Anderson!"

After Blaine left, Rachel received a call from her dad, telling her that they were extending their stay for a few more days. The message pushed her to take Blaine's advice and ask Puck to stay over again but found herself indecisive. She fiddled with her phone, typing and erasing text messages to him. Dread pooled in her stomach. They both had iPhones. What if he was sitting there, watching the text bubble pop up and disappear repeatedly? She'd look ridiculous. Taking a deep breath, she opened his contact page and pressed the phone button next to his name. She wouldn't be able to back out if they were talking, right?

It took two rings for him to pick up.

"_Hey there, little mama."_

Rachel rolled her eyes. "It's like I get to live out my dreams of dating Elvis," she bit sarcastically.

"_Well you know I'm all about making all your dreams come true." _The implication was blatant. _"What's going on, Rach? Miss me already?" _

She bit her lip. "Well, actually, yeah. I was wondering if you wanted to come over again? Dad and Daddy won't be home until Tuesday now."

"_Are you telling me I get to sleep with you two nights in a row? Dude, I'm so there." _She heard a muffled voice in the back._ "Not like that, jackass!"_

Rachel smirked, knowing it _would _be just like that. "Who's that?" she asked instead of correcting him.

"_Just Mike and Sam. Left 4 Dead. Survival mode. You know the deal." _She did. The one time Noah had forced her to play survival mode, she freaked out, threw the controller in his lap and told him she couldn't play a game that gave her such harsh heart palpitations. She couldn't believe he was even able to pick up the phone while playing. _"I'll see you in a bit?" _

"Alright. Love you, Noah."

"_Love you t-"_

"_WE LOVE YOU, RACHEL," _she heard them shout before her boyfriend could finish his response. _"Rach, so do you like, only wear undies to bed or-"_

"_Would you idiots shut up?! And when I said 'stop asking me that,' that didn't mean you could ask her!" _

Rachel set her phone down with a chuckle then looked around her room. She could see the gift bag peeking out of the closet, where she had thrown it before Noah could see it. It took her less than a minute to start formulating her plan, and once she was sure of what to do, she hopped off her bed and began setting her room up. Maybe she wouldn't be perfect, but at least the ambiance could be.

Three hours later, Noah pulled up to her house and parked his truck in the driveway, knowing he didn't have to worry about being in her dads' way. After her phone call, he desperately wanted to leave Sam's house already, but they guilted him into staying. Accusations like _"you never hang out with us anymore" _or _"you only have time for Blaine" _made him roll his eyes. He wasn't sure when Sam and Mike started acting like jealous girlfriends, but they were right. He did sort of push them aside for his newfound bromance with Anderson. The least he could do was stay a few hours before heading out to his girlfriend. When they were done, he rushed home to change before driving down to Rachel's neighborhood. Hanging with the boys was fun while it lasted, but he was itching to lie down and get some sleep. Staring at the TV screen had his eyes burning, watery enough that when Rachel noticed he was sure to get a lecture about impairing his vision.

He pressed the doorbell twice and readied himself for the onslaught of big words she'd throw at him for his appearance. Not only was he red-eyed and exhausted, but he was also wearing his old, oil-stained undershirt and a pair of joggers riddled with holes. She'd probably assume he had worn them as an excuse to take them off and sleep in his boxers.

Well she wouldn't be more wrong.

Because he wasn't _wearing _boxers. He was wearing his sexy as hell, tight black briefs. The one's he knew were Rachel's favorite.

Breaking away from his musings, Puck frowned when he realized that Rachel had yet to come down and let him in. He knocked on the cool wood and, after another few silent seconds came and went, reached up and rapped his knuckles against the glass pane above the door.

"Rach?" he called out loudly, backpedaling when he heard a window open above him. Rachel smiled down at him from her bedroom. "Hey. You alright up there?"

She nodded. "Yep! Sorry, I was just cleaning my room a little. The door's unlocked. You can come on in."

Noah raised his brow with suspicion when she ducked back in her room and pushed the window shut firmly. It was unlike her to leave her door unlocked. She was always going on about home intruders and how there was "no such thing as being overcautious." Deciding to ignore her odd behavior, he went back to the door and walked into the house, making sure to lock the door behind him.

He walked towards the kitchen first, wanting to grab a water bottle before heading up, but one glance towards the stairs had him almost tripping over his own feet.

Rachel may be all about the cheesy romantic gestures, but she knew flowers and candles weren't really his thing. So there on the steps, instead of a trail of rose petals, sat a pair of lacy underwear he had never seen in her drawers before.

And he had scoured _every_ corner of her dresser and closet for even a hint of naughty underthings that he could steal.

He picked them up and stared at them. The design was way too edgy, nothing she would ever consider wearing. So what were they doing in her house?

"Rach-"

Her name caught in his throat when he looked up and found a matching bra, and then another set of matching lingerie, and then a pair of silk gloves at the top step.

"Rach?" he tried again, but his voice came out as a strangled whisper.

_To hell with the water bottle_.

Noah scrambled up the stairs, trying to keep his footfalls quiet but his excitement and curiosity got the better of him and he damn near stomped the entire way to her room.

Her door was ajar and the light of her lamp spilled out into the hallway. "Rachel?" He inwardly cursed himself when he couldn't get the volume of his voice above a quiet squeak.

He was Noah Puckerman. The Sex Shark. The Saw.

Why in God's name couldn't he say her fucking name?

Finally, after staring at her door for almost a full minute, he pushed it open further and stepped in. "Rach? What's going-"

Noah bit back a moan when he saw his girlfriend standing at the foot of her bed, a shy smile one her face. She was dressed in some old school, tiny white lingerie dress, completely different from the underwear she had laid out for him, but it was so breathtaking and so _Rachel_.

"Can we talk?" She asked him, tucking a few strands of hair behind her ear.

"I...You're gonna have to do all the talking, mama, because I'm having trouble with words right now," he confessed. She giggled in reply. Rachel stretched a hand out to him and beckoned him closer. He walked up to her, stopping just an inch away. Carefully, as if she would disappear under his touch, he brought his fingers up to trace the straps over her shoulders and down her back. "Rachel. Fuck, you're so damn beautiful, it hurts to look at you."

Rachel breathed out a sigh of happiness. She placed her hands over his chest and he pulled her closer.

"I lied last night." That took his attention away from her body immediately. "I did have a present for you. It was this."

"This?"

"_This_, Noah," she told him meaningfully. He nodded, showing he understood. "But I was scared that I would mess it up. That I wouldn't be good enough because I'm not as experienced as you."

"Rach, no," he protested.

Rachel brushed his lips with the pad of her thumb, silently asking him to let her explain. "But I've realized it isn't about being perfect. It's just about being with you. Right?" He nodded again, this time more fervently. Oh _God_, did he want to be with her right now. The hands on her back slithered to her waist and then down to cup her bottom. She ran her hands up the sides of his neck. "I want to be with you, Noah."

"Are you sure?" he whispered softly.

She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pulled herself up to kiss him firmly. It was all the answer he needed. In one swift move, he picked her up and carried her to bed, thanking every damn god in the world that he had at least worn nice underwear under his raggedy clothes.

* * *

Mercedes, who met Rachel at her locker on Monday morning, was baffled by her friend's perkiness. "Are you alright?" she asked. Her suspicion grew when she received a nod and euphoric, breathy hum in return. They walked to the glee morning meeting and though she was very much involved in the story she was telling Rachel about her weekend, she couldn't help but notice that the diva wasn't cutting in with comments or the questions that she usually would ask. In fact, Rachel seemed to be _gliding _down the hallway, apparently deaf to whatever new insults their classmates had come up with for her that week. She ignored it, choosing to continue with her story instead. "And I told Kurt that it just wasn't the right song for his voice but you know that boy. Once he has his mind on something…" Rachel nodded absently. "Okay seriously, girl. What is up with you? Right about now, you'd be marching over to Kurt and knocking some sense into him. Spill."

She grinned. "It's nothing, Mercedes! Everything is just wonderful."

They walked into the choir room and, seeing Blaine at the top of the risers, Rachel quickly excused herself and ran up to the boy. Mercedes narrowed her gaze at the two of them and rushed over to the group talking by the piano.

"Hey."

"What's up, Cedes?" Kurt asked.

"Something's up with Rachel. I can't figure it out though…"

Santana turned to examine the girl in question. Rachel and Blaine sat facing each other, holding hands and whispering furiously. Both of them had wide shit-eating grins on their faces. "Oh my," Santana muttered. "Has Hair-Gel gone straight for Berry?"

Brittany gasped. "Rachel and Blaine? They're together?"

Kurt made a sound of irritation. "Uhm, excuse me? I'm standing right here."

Quinn rolled her eyes. "What's the big deal? They probably have some duet ready or something."

"No," Mercedes objected. "It's more than that! She's different, I swear!" Kurt began picking at his nails, refusing to look at any of them. Mercedes gasped. "You know! Tell us! Tell us now!"

He frowned. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh spill it, Porcelain!" Santana demanded. "Who are the three people that Berry tells big news to first?"

Quinn narrowed her eyes at the boy. "Puck, Blaine and _you_. They're right. You know something." Kurt shook his head hard though a smirk was threatening to break out on his face. "Tell us now! Did she get some part at a local theater? An early acceptance to some school In New York?"

"Mornin, losers!"

Everyone looked at Puck as he walked in, a lazy smirk stretching his lips. His eyes sought out his girlfriend's, and his entire body relaxed when he found them. Rachel sat up, a tender smile overtaking her grin. She mouthed a "hello" to him. He reciprocated with a wink and a silent "hey." He took a few big steps until he plopped down in the seat in front of her, a look of adoration on his face as he stared up at her. Their hands reached out for each other and she bit her lip teasingly when their fingers laced together.

It took less than two point five seconds for Santana to realize what had happened over the weekend. "Oh. My. God!" Her exclamation brought the entire room's attention to her.

"Problem?" Mr. Schue asked, breaking away from his conversation with Finn.

Santana shook her head disbelievingly. "I… no, Mr. Schue. I'm good."

"Alright? Well then, assignment for this week!" He waited for everyone to sit down before grabbing a marker and heading over to the board.

Santana barely noticed. She spent the entire fifteen-minute meeting grinning lecherously at the tiny girl who squirmed under her gaze. The moment they were dismissed, Santana slapped Puck's hand away from Rachel and took its place.

He glared at her. "What the fuck, Lopez?"

"Be gone, Puckerman!" she commanded.

"Excuse you?"

She rolled her eyes, tugged Rachel to her feet and pushed pass him. "Uh buh-bye. Girls! Ladies' room. Now."

"Santana!" Rachel griped whiningly. "I have class in-"

The Latina shoved her into the bathroom, smirking when the others pooled in behind her. "Ten minutes. Which is more than enough time to give us the deets, Berry. Did you swipe in your V-card?"

Quinn let out a long "oh" of realization while Mercedes and Tina squealed and ran forward to hug the girl. "You did?!" Tina screeched in her ear. "Was it amazing? Was it romantic? Is he really as big as the rumors say he is?!"

Rachel spared a glance at Quinn who shrugged, wordlessly telling her to answer the question if she really wanted to. Santana wiggled her eyebrows, daring her to affirm the gossip. Rachel rolled her eyes and nodded. "Yes, yes and _yes_."

"No way," Mercedes gaped.

"Way," Rachel responded. She covered her face when she felt blood pooling in her cheeks. "Oh my god, it was… it was amazing."

Brittany leaned in with a giggle. "When did it happen? After the Sugar Shack?"

"No, the night after. And my dads don't come back until tomorrow, so he stayed _well _into Sunday."

Santana threw her head back with laughter. "Are you serious? You weren't sore?"

"Of course I was," she stated indignantly. "But I'm also a hormonal teenage girl!"

"How are you even walking right now?"

Rachel scoffed. "Please. I've gone through many rigorous dance routines throughout my entire life. My thighs are used to a battering."

Santana threw an arm around her, still gasping for air. "Oh Berry, why did I ever think you were lame? I love this girl."

"Not as much as Puck does," Brittany cut in suggestively.

Quinn smiled, nudging the short girl playfully. "So, gonna make him wait long for another romp in the sack, Rach?"

"Well… let's just say that my insatiable appetite applies to most everything in my life."

They all exited the bathroom laughing and whispering to each other, smirking when they passed the boys in the hallway. Puck grabbed Rachel's hand with a warning sneer at Santana, telling her to stay away. She snickered back at him and kept her hands on her waist to show she wouldn't separate them this time.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary****: "She slowly waved the can between the pair, daring them to follow her, before turning on her heel and sprinting towards the port-a-potties outside." Had Rachel been the one to find Puck. AU from Special Education**

**Distance**

Rachel let out a frustrated huff.

As hard as she scrubbed at the floor, the stubborn black stain wouldn't come out. Kurt was right. The best they could do was cover it up with an area rug. She sat back and looked around the apartment.

Though Kurt hadn't gotten into NYADA like she had, he followed her to New York to continue chasing his dreams. She was more than happy to leave her roommate and finally have someone she actually liked around. NYADA was more stressful than she thought it was going to be. The pressure to be perfect, the cutthroat competition between the students in class, and of course the ever wonderful Cassandra July was driving her up the wall until Kurt joined her. But despite living the life she wanted, in an amazing apartment with one of her best friends, Rachel woke up every morning with an ache in her heart.

"_The army?" she whispered disbelievingly. Saying it herself still didn't convince her that she had heard him right. "You're joining the army with Finn?"_

_Noah gave her a long, pleading look. "Rachel, please. Try to understand." _

_She should have suspected something was going on. Noah wasn't one for huge romantic gestures. She was quite astonished when she woke up in the morning and found him in her backyard. He had laid out a large blanket on the grass and she could spot her favorite vegan meals sitting on top of it. She assumed that it was a celebratory breakfast for getting her acceptance letter to NYADA. For once, she wasn't bragging about her news to everyone, so as to spare Kurt's feelings, although Puck from proudly announced in glee club that his girl was headed to New York. _

_So when Puck dropped his bombshell after softening her up with his surprise, it took all her energy to make sure she wouldn't fall into hysterics. _

"_Understand?" Rachel shoved him away. "I- I __**don't**__ understand. We were making all these plans about New York and, and living together and- I thought you were going to look for schools-"_

"_Rach," he interrupted. "My grades may be better, but they ain't great. You know that."_

"_So you're just gonna haul off to the army?! What does this even mean? You're gonna be in Georgia, Noah! Are you- are we still- I mean are you going to break up with-"_

"_No!" Puck grabbed her shoulders and stared straight into her eyes. "Rachel, listen to me. I'm not breaking up with you. I couldn't if I wanted to. I love you. You know that!"_

_Her bottom lip trembled. "So then why are you leaving me?" _

_He sighed and pulled her down to sit on his lap. "All my life I've been a screw up. Everyone, including myself at one point, thinks I'm going to end up in jail or dead once we're done at McKinley. And joining the army? Not only will this prove them wrong, but it's something that I actually want to do. I can be doing something that actually has meaning, Rachel, defending people instead of throwing them into dumpsters." _

_A sob caught in her throat and she buried her face in the crook of his neck. "Noah, what am I supposed to do without you? You're my life…"_

"_No, Rachel, I'm not," he told her firmly. "Your life is becoming a star of stage and screen. Your life is taking New York by storm and showing all those fuckers that they were wrong about you. I'm just the lucky guy that gets to be a part of that." _

_Rachel smiled through her tears. "So I'm not your life?" _

_He laughed and pecked her lips lovingly. "Well no… but my life certainly does revolve around you, doesn't it?" _

_She scowled. "Explain how choosing to join the army is something I would like." _

_Puck smirked lecherously. "You get the absolute pleasure of seeing me in a uniform." _

Months ago, Rachel had been confident that she would be living with her boyfriend in a little shoebox apartment, she the star pupil of NYADA and he in a college of his choice, studying what he wanted but not without a minor in music. Of course, he always insisted that music was a hobby for him, not a lifestyle, but she was sure she could convince him to see it her way. They would be a power couple by the time she got her first Tony, and everyone would glare at her with envy when she walked down Fifth Avenue with him on her arm.

But real life blindsided her.

Noah wasn't with her. He had left Fort Benning rather quickly, but not for New York. He called her saying that he realized that the army wasn't for him, but that the U.S. Air Force was. On her first day of classes, he was done with the Delayed Entry Program and getting shipped off to basic training. She had trouble breathing at the thought of what he would have to go through, but her boyfriend was a badass. She knew he wouldn't just survive, but be the best out of all of them.

So no, Noah wasn't with her. But she was filled to the brim with pride.

"Rachel? Are you still trying to kick that stain out of the apartment? Just tell it to pay rent and call it a day."

Rachel threw the dirty rag to the side and rolled her eyes at Kurt. "I've given up. Let's just get that rug you were talking about."

"The pink one or the blue one?"

"Whichever one goes with our décor, Kurt."

He laughed. "Darling, nothing goes with our décor. Our _décor _doesn't go with our décor."

She groaned. "The blue one."

"See, was that so hard?"

Rachel pouted. She pulled her knees to her chest and hugged her legs tight against her. "Kurt?" He hummed questioningly. "I know you're totally in the same boat as I am with Blaine… but I miss Noah so much. I wake up with nightmares that he's flying a plane and crashing into mountains or oceans or once, it was Breadstix…"

Kurt plopped down on the floor next to her and wrapped his arms around her. "Aw Rach," he cooed. "First of all, honey, he isn't even flying planes yet. That's so irrational." She elbowed his ribs. "And second, of course you're scared. The idiot decided to join the military. And I know you're probably feeling a little… tense," he told her with a smirk.

She groaned. "God, am I. He's turned me into a sex addict, I swear."

"The old rub ain't doing it anymore?"

She shook her head and fought the blush trying to pool in her cheeks. "Not quite."

"Me neither," he confessed with a sigh. "Do you know if he'll make it back to Lima for Thanksgiving?"

"I really have no idea. He was supposed to be recruit personnel but his commanding officers are so impressed with him, they want to send him to the Air Force Academy." Kurt could see past her disappointment that another month would be added to their time apart. There was no denying how happy she was for Puck. "He's going through all these interviews and stuff to prove that his stint in Juvie was a one time thing. They can deal with the poor grades, but the moral character's a tough hurdle to get over. Noah doesn't want to make a bad impression by up and leaving while all of this is going on so… I really hope this works out for him. Mrs. Puckerman would be so proud."

"Not as proud as Miss Berry, hmm?" Kurt teased. "Well, when we go home in two weeks, Blaine and I will do everything to keep your spirits up, alright?"

She scoffed. "Please. You two will be locked up in his room, screwing like bunnies. Besides, Finn's got that favor he needs from us. I'll be busy helping him with the glee club during my spare time."

"Okay, speaking of- you know how Finn does that weird, jittery stutter when he's hiding something?"

Rachel gasped excitedly. "You heard that too? What do you think it is?"

"I don't know, but I don't like it," he murmured. "He never lies to me. I told him it was a brother thing, that you don't keep secrets from each other. Like, he took it so seriously that he's told me about every rash he's had. There's no way he isn't hiding something important."

* * *

Rachel all but leapt into Finn's embrace when she saw him standing outside McKinley's doors. Finn laughed and lifted her off her feet, spinning her once before dropping her back to the ground. "Rachel Berry," he sighed. "You are a sight for sore eyes."

"Aw, Finn! I've missed you so much."

The tall boy pulled back with a grin. Near graduation, Rachel had shown up at his doorstep, demanding that they bury the hatchet and stop acting like strangers with each other. Though he had mended his friendship with Puck, he still felt awkward around his ex. _"You slept with Santana and lied to me about it. I kissed Puck a week before breaking up with you. We both did wrong." _Her confession of course made him explode with anger and they spent twenty minutes on his front yard screaming at each other, before they realized how ridiculous they were being and eventually made amends. Their time was running out, and neither of them wanted to waste it mad at each other.

"So, co-cap," he began. "Heard from our boy recently? He hasn't sent me any letters…"

"Aww, miss your boyfriend?" she asked teasingly. Finn rolled his eyes but threw an arm around her as he guided her into the school. "He's doing good. Misses you, as he said at least _three _times in the last phone call he gave me. _'Are you seeing Finn soon? Tell him I said hi, okay?' _It's like, gee, Puck. Who are you dating again?"

"Well he _was _mine before you seduced him with your stupid smile and your short skirts."

She mocked anger before giggling. "I'm just happy that you had some sense and left the army, unlike your ridiculous bestie."

"You think so? I kinda feel like a loser for doing it… All that stuff I said about making up for my dad's failures. I just feel like I'm letting him down."

Rachel paused and tugged on his arms so he would look down at her. He smiled. He recognized the determined, tight-lipped glare she was giving him immediately. "Finn Hudson," she scolded. "You have no idea how proud we all are of you. What you're doing for New Directions is amazing. Don't think Artie didn't tell me about your hand in Grease. You're inspiring them, Finn. You're making a change. Maybe you aren't doing it in the way you thought you would, but this is just so… you! Mr. Hudson. You'd make an amazing teacher, you know?"

Finn rubbed his arm uncomfortably. "I've been looking at schools for teaching and, I don't know… I just feel too stupid to go after something like that but-"

"No, Finn, it's perfect," she encouraged. "And when I walk into that choir room and see how they look up to you, I'm gonna turn to you and say I told you so. Very arrogantly. Just warning you."

Instead of the laugh she expected, the boy seemed to get even more nervous. "Uhm, about that… See, I told the others last night during the dinner-"

"Oh, right! I'm so sorry I couldn't make it yesterday. I hope Kurt explained why I wasn't back till this morning? My assignment for one of my classes?"

"Yeah, yeah he did, but Rach. I just don't want you to be shocked when we get in there." They were nearing the choir room now, and he was purposefully slowing his pace so he could tell her what was going on before she walked in and was introduced to Jake. "You see, that favor I wanted to ask you guys? Uhm, it was to mentor the new kids one-on-one, teach them the ropes about Sectionals. And the boy you're-"

"That's an amazing idea, Finn!" she cut in animatedly. "And of course with Show Choir royalty like me, they'll be learning from the best! Oh, I can't wait until I see who you paired me up with! Come on, let's hurry! The others are probably waiting for us!"

"W-wait!"

He watched her run ahead and practically leap into the choir room. From where he was, he could hear some girlish squeals and shouts of her name. Mercedes and Tina, definitely, and probably Quinn and Santana rushing to her next. Dread bubbled in his stomach. This was going to be bad. He walked in and smiled at the glee clubbers sitting on the risers. The girls had indeed surrounded Rachel, but were quickly pushed aside by an excited Blaine, who was squeezing her so tight she could barely breathe.

"I. Have freaking. Missed you so much, Rachie!" he shouted. "Oh my god, the original Rachel and the _new _Rachel, together in one room again!"

She shoved him towards his seat with a playful glare. "Watch it, Anderson. The limelight's mine."

"And that had to be fixed, _Artie_," Tina grumbled irritably. "Iwas supposed to be the new Rachel!"

"Alright, guys, come on," Finn ordered. "Take your seats." He waited for them to settle down. He motioned for the alumni to stand up front in a line before turning back to the others. "Do you realize that standing before you… are legends." He grinned when they all began clapping for his friends. Finn sat next to Artie and appraised the others. "Any single one of these guys could be President of the United States one day." He ignored Artie's disagreement and continued. _"And _lucky for us, they've agreed to help us prepare for sectionals. So, to our new blood! You guys are going to get a personal mentor this week to help you get competition ready."

Rachel didn't miss the apprehensive glance Finn sent her way, or the ones that their friends gave her as well.

He cleared his throat. "So, uhm. Kurt has agreed to help me coach-"

"What!" she exclaimed. "But- but, I was your co-captain!"

"Brother's pact, Rachel," her roommate explained with a smirk. She glowered and stuck her tongue out at him immaturely.

Finn allowed Rachel to pout some more before continuing. "When I call your name, I want you to pair up. Mike, I want you with Ryder. Marley, you're with Santana. Kitty, Quinn." The others snorted under their breaths when Kitty ran up to Quinn and hugged her.

"Wannabe," Santana whispered to Rachel, who snickered in agreement.

"Wade, Mercedes. And Rachel?" She beamed brightly at the last new face in the crowd. "You're with Jake." With her head held high, she stepped up onto the platform and sat in the empty seat next to him. "Now your mentors are here to help you with whatever you need. Singing, dancing… the worst mistake we can make is to underestimate our competition." He told them their set-list, not without any snide remarks from Santana, before stating with confidence that they wouldn't be losing Sectionals any time soon. When the warning bell rang, their plans and ideas for the big dance routine was put on hold.

Before Jake could leave, Rachel laced her arm through his and smiled. "Jake, right? Allow me to properly introduce myself while I walk you to class."

He smirked. "Sure."

She tilted her head in thought, but her expression didn't falter. There was something about this boy-

"Oh, Rachel, wait!" Finn called. "I need to talk to you!"

"Finn, Jacob- is it Jacob?" she asked him. When he nodded, she turned back to Finn. "Jacob here will be late, and you know how big of a pet peeve being late is to me. I'll talk to you when I get back, alright?"

"But Rach!"

Jake's tugged Rachel towards the door. "Don't worry, Finn. I got this covered," he said, staring at Finn with a knowing look.

She stared at the younger boy as she escorted him out of the room. What was it about this guy that seemed so familiar?

"So, Jake. I'll be honest. I thought Finn would pair me with the female lead, Marley, was it? It would only make sense, but I'm sure he made me your mentor for a reason. So, why don't you tell me about yourself? What are you lacking in that Finn decided you were in need of my expertise?"

The boy shrugged, hoisting his bag over his shoulder as it began to slip. "I don't know. I sing pretty good. Dance alright."

"Oh… well do you have any questions about Sectionals, maybe?"

He shrugged once more. "Not really."

Rachel frowned. "I don't think I need to explain how important this competition is. Now, I don't want to pass any judgment but it seems like you aren't taking it very seriously. Perhaps-"

"Listen, it isn't that I'm not taking it seriously. I'm just pretty confident in my talents," he told her with a grin. "Besides, I don't think he paired you with me for your advice on Sectionals."

"Oh really?" she challenged. "Then why-"

"I think it has something to do with you fucking my brother." Rachel jolted to a halt, the arm holding Jake falling back to her side as she gaped at the boy.

"Wh-what?"

Jake chuckled. "Yeah. Looks like everyone knew but you, huh? Though I don't know how. Even if he didn't tell you about me, I heard that Puck and I have got a bit of a family resemblance." His eyes lit up when he smirked at her once more.

_That's what it was_, she told herself. _The eyes._

Jake leaned against the lockers. "Finn's got it in his head that talking about Puck might make me stop getting into trouble. It's how Mr. Schue got me into glee in the first place. Spouted all this crap about how _Noah _fixed his life up and stuff. That I could do the same." He shifted uncomfortably.

Rachel was still in too much of a stupor. She opened her mouth and tried to respond. At the sound of her confused squeak, he continued.

"And I guess Finn was hoping you'd do the same. Tell me stories about the guy. Maybe stage a reunion to help with my 'anger problems.'" He rolled his eyes. "But don't worry. I joined glee, I'm friends with Ryder Lynn- the newest golden boy if you don't know who he is- and I've been staying out of trouble… as much as possible, that is. You don't need to lecture me. I'll see you after school for the glee meeting. We can do vocal warm-ups or something if that'll make you feel like you helped me."

With that, he walked away, leaving her frozen in her spot. "See you later, _sis_," he threw over his shoulder.

Rachel stared at the back of his head until he disappeared around the corner. Her mouth hung open and her eyes were still wide with disbelief. "B-brot-"

She turned to look in the direction of the choir room.

"FINN CHRISTOPHER HUDSON!"

* * *

Rachel had spent two periods slapping Finn's chest and accusing him of purposefully hiding Jake's relation to her. When he defended himself and said that he had tried speaking to her about it earlier, she only grew more aggravated. "This isn't the kind of thing to drop on someone five minutes before meeting their boyfriend's half-brother, Finn! You should've told me when you called me! Or in an email! Or in a damn singing telegram! I didn't need to find out through what I can only describe as Jake's vulgar explanation!"

"I'm sorry! How many times do you want me to apologize? Ballpark number here, so I can prepare myself?"

She would've been angry if she didn't know that he was being serious. "So what was your goal here, Finn? What do you want me to do with him?"

"Look, I know it seems like he doesn't want anything to do with Puck, but he _does_. I know he does. He's just scared of another rejection. You know their dad… He made them feel like they weren't worth spit, Rachel. Jake needs someone like Puck in his life. Show him it doesn't always end with drawing the short straw."

Rachel softened and patted Finn's cheek. "You're a good guy, Finn."

"Well, you know," he muttered embarrassedly, though he puffed his chest out. "I try."

"I'll do my best with him, alright?"

He gave her the same boyish smile that made him her first love. "That's all I ask, Rach."

"And I'm guessing Puck doesn't know anything about him?"

"Not that I know of. He would've told me if he had a brother. And I sure as hell didn't tell him anything in our letters."

"Your love letters, you mean?"

"Rachel," he protested with a blush. She laughed at his expense.

The next day, Rachel searched the school for any sign of Jake, who she was sure was avoiding her. It seemed like he knew she would try to talk to him about Noah. She was close to giving up when she finally found him behind the curtains of the auditorium. Her jaw dropped at what she saw. "Dance alright?" she asked accusingly. She stormed up to him, her arms swinging angrily.

Jake tripped over his feet and whipped around to look at her. "Rachel."

"That's dancing alright? You're- you're amazing! You have to be the lead!"

"No!" He grabbed her forearm pleadingly. "You can't!"

She gaped at him. "Why not?! You're amazing! Even better than Mike!" Rachel clawed at his wrist and shoved at him with her shoulder, but he wouldn't budge.

"Ryder wants that dance lead so badly. I can't take it from him."

"If he's really your friend, he'd want you to have it."

"He _is _my friend, and that's why he's letting me date Marley." She stopped her struggling and stared up at him. "He's crazy about her… but so am I, so he stepped aside for me. I can't take the dance lead from him too." Jake finally let go of her. "So please. Please don't tell Finn?"

She rubbed her wrist. "You're just like your brother," she muttered. "Fine. I'll keep this a secret."

He nodded. "Thanks." He turned away from her. "But uh, no thanks. On the comparison. His infamous Bro Code violation is still talked about in these halls, like a cautionary tale."

"Alright, first of all, he made up for it. Finn and Puck are best friends again. In fact, it worries me how close they are. I'm pretty sure if there was anyone he would leave me for, it would be Finn. Second, you are like him. You both have that same self-sacrificing attitude… with a hint of self-deprecation. His low opinion of himself annoyed me as much as yours does."

Jake raised a brow at her. "What's that supposed to mean?"

She sat on the bench near them and sighed. "Look, Jake. I know all about your dad. The guy was, for lack of a better word, an asshole. And you and Noah deserved better than him."

"Okay, if I wanted to talk to some stranger about my daddy issues, I would've went to a therapist."

"Shut up and sit down. Now." There was a tone in her voice that told him she'd tackle him if he tried to escape. After a moment of indecision, he slowly lowered himself to the spot next to her, believing it wasn't worth irritating her even further. "I took the liberty of asking around, wanted to find out what kind of stuff you've done here. All seems like the regular stuff. Fights, changing girls faster than you change underwear, blah blah blah. Suffice it to say, I'm happy you didn't try to steal an ATM, like Puck."

"_That's _what he went to juvie for? The rumor was that he kicked the crap out of a police horse."

Rachel flinched. "Well, he did do that, but that was in his youth. My point is that you're going down the same exact path that Noah was going down. So here's your crossroads, Jacob Puckerman." She held her arms out before him. "One." She shook her left hand. "You keep on keeping on with your attitude, getting into the little acts of rebellion that you somehow get away with though it does nothing to improve your person, or two." She waved her right hand inches away from his face. "You start realizing that the way your asshole dad treated you doesn't define you as a man. That you're better than you think you are and that you should start acting that way."

"How do you even know about those 'acts of rebellion'?"

"Do you really think Puck changed over night? He's still working on his temper and 'daddy issues.' Besides, I was just guessing. I have no idea if you're still some bad boy, ladies' man."

Rachel was grinning at him triumphantly. He looked her in the eyes before reaching up and taking her right hand in his.

"I was working on it already, just so you know. Being friends with Ryder and having coaches like Mr. Schue and Finn does that to a guy but… but fine. You win. I don't think Marley would like it if she knew I was still getting into stupid fights with people, anyway."

Rachel's grin widened. "So, tell me about Marley. Your leading lady."

A soft smile took over his hardened features. "She's… great. Everyone's scared that I'm gonna use her, even Ryder, but they're wrong. I really like her. A lot."

She poked his bicep to reel him back in from the dreamland he drifted off to. "You know, I'm pretty sure I know another story that sounds just like yours…"

He rolled his eyes with a sigh. "Alright, you're obviously super desperate to tell me all about my brother so go ahead."

Rachel clapped her hands excitedly. "Okay so, he just finished basic training for the U.S. Air Force. He's trying to get into the academy right now. It's why he couldn't come home for Thanksgiving. Honestly, everyone held him at such low standards. It thrills me to see him proving all of them wrong." Her words had an affect on the younger Puckerman. She could tell. "Would you ever want to meet him, maybe? He's really great, Jake. He's loyal and caring and… he's the only guy in the world that would really understands you everything you might be going through."

He huffed. "Yeah, but the air force? He'd be gone for most of the year. I'd never see him. What's the point if he wouldn't even be around?"

Rachel smiled sadly. "It is hard. I would know. I went from seeing him every day to… well, not. But whether Noah's ten miles away or ten thousand miles away, he's never failed to let me down. I think he can do the same for you. And Jake, he isn't your dad."

The statement needed no explanation. He knew what she meant.

Puck wouldn't be gone because he didn't care.

Jake looked down at the floor. "I guess I've thought about meeting him. I just hear all these great things about him from Finn, from you," he chuckled. "He seems like he could be a cool guy to have around."

Rachel squeezed his hand. "Might not be until Christmas but… I'm sure I can work something out."


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary****: "She slowly waved the can between the pair, daring them to follow her, before turning on her heel and sprinting towards the port-a-potties outside." Had Rachel been the one to find Puck. AU from Special Education**

**Family**

"_You're joking," Jake laughed. "He did not."_

_She giggled madly and nodded her head while they walked down the hallway together. "No, he did. He really did!" _

_It only took two days for Jake to warm up to her, and allow her to give him actual advice and pointers for Sectionals. To everyone's amusement, the two were bonding quite nicely and as if their budding friendship wasn't enough, Rachel loved Marley, insisting that she eat lunch with them to get to know her better. She made a point of stealing her from Santana many times, and the shy girl was overwhelmed with happiness to know that Rachel thought so highly of her talents. Jake, for his part, enjoyed the stories that Rachel would tell him about Puck. Though he was still too proud to admit it, he did want to know his brother and Rachel was helping him do that without actually having to meet the boy. _

"_You're telling me he kept the Travolta suit and tried to play some weird, disco inferno fantasy out with you?" _

"_It was so weird! He literally jived into my bedroom and asked if I wanted to see his disco sti-" _

_Rachel's words died on her lips when she noticed Quinn marching up to them. Her hand was locked on her hip and there was a sense of purpose in her stride that worried her greatly. _

"_Oh no." _

"_What's going on?" _

"O_kay, quick summary, I've been a constant source of irritation to Quinn Fabray throughout our entire high school career. I'm not sure what I've done this time, but that's head-bitch-in-charge Quinn headed our way so just stay quiet and-"_

_They watched in awe when she stabbed a pointed finger into Jake's chest. "Back off of Marley." _

_Rachel's jaw dropped. Jake stared at the blonde in disbelief. "Excuse me?" _

"_Quinn, what are you doing?" Rachel hissed. _

"_He's messing with her head! He's pressuring her to have sex with him." _

_Jake's jaw clenched though he somehow retained a calm voice to answer her. "Who told you that?"_

"_I don't need somebody to tell me that the biggest womanizer in school is trying to take advantage of the naïve girl who's just wants to fit in and be loved, especially if the womanizer's last name… is Puckerman." _

"_Hey!" Rachel exclaimed defensively, taking the insult to her boyfriend and his brother personally. _

"_You don't know me," he answered. "I'm a lot of things that my brother wasn't and I would never do that to Marley." _

_Quinn rolled her eyes. "I don't believe you," she whispered before pushing past them. _

_Rachel glared at the girl as she walked away. "I'll take care of her, Jake," she told him. _

Santana pulled a face and shook her head. "I'm telling you. Chick is going loca!"

"You two really slapped each other?"

"Rachel, I would've torn her boobs off if Brittany didn't come in and stop us," she huffed angrily.

Rachel frowned, elbowing Santana's ribs and glancing across the room to make sure they weren't heard. "Keep your voice down, would you?" Kitty and Quinn were sitting by the piano, discussing Quinn's strategy on winning Sectionals, or what Santana had called "having sex with the judges." She had said it loud enough so that the older blonde would hear her and the two refused to look at each other since. Although Rachel was still quite irritated with Quinn, she was trying her best to keep the peace between them. So far, her attempts to make them apologize to each other only ended with the two getting even cattier. Finally, she gave up and decided on keeping them separated. It didn't fix things, but it sure as hell didn't give her a headache.

"So, how's my girl Marls? She eat at lunch today?"

"I made sure of it," Rachel told her. "And I told Jake about Kitty and the laxatives. He isn't letting it slide anymore."

"He shouldn't have been ignoring it in the first place," Santana scowled.

Rachel rubbed her knee comfortingly. "Give him a break, San. He didn't realize how bad it was and now that he does he's keeping an eye on her."

She didn't seem appeased but she didn't make any more comments. "Still can't believe Quinn said that about Puck right in front of you," she said after a moment of silence between them.

"Well, she didn't insult Noah per se…"

"Nope, just told his baby brother that a Puckerman's only talent is being a total dick to girls," she corrected sarcastically. "I can't believe you didn't pull her hair out for it."

She shrugged. "I definitely wanted to."

"I can't believe after all these years, you're still going on with that hippie-ass, 'love not war' shit. What happened to the hot girl that beat the shit out of Azimio for insulting her boyfriend?"

"She grew up," Rachel stated firmly with a glare.

Desperate to save herself from whatever lecture she was going to get, Santana changed the topic quickly. "How is Puck, anyway? Big Daddy, not Jake."

"First of all, ew. Don't call him that. And he's fine. Upset that he couldn't come home for Thanksgiving but he'll live."

Santana raised a brow. "And you? Will you live without seeing him for another whole month?"

Jake pulled a chair up and plopped down next to them. "No. She won't," he said before Rachel could answer. "I can't go one hour without her talking about him."

She gave his shoulder a light swat. "You _like _those stories, jerk!" she laughed. Santana grinned when the two began bantering with each other. It was clear that Jake had fallen prey to the Berry charm, just like everyone else had. "San, did you hear me?" Rachel's question brought her out of her musings. "I said you've gotta see Jake's moves. He's amazing."

"Is he? Does he have that Puckerman signature hip thrust down?"

Jake snorted. "What?"

"Ugh, Noah," Rachel groaned. "He does that stupid thing where thrusts his hips and like slams his hands down on his thighs? You know." She illustrated the move in her seat. "He did it, like, every single time he had a dance solo. What did he call it again?"

Santana pursed her lips in thought. "It was the saw."

"Correction, _I _was the Saw."

Rachel gasped and her hand flew to her chest. Every head in the room turned to look at the new arrival.

Noah Puckerman stood in the doorway, hair gelled back and one hand in his pants' pocket. He was grinning at Rachel, who continued to gape at him in shock. Her eyes roamed over his body, drinking in the blue uniform he was wearing. The last time she had seen him, he still had his mohawk and he was wearing, well, nothing. She had snuck over to his house in the middle of the night for one last time together before he left for Georgia with Finn. His current appearance was a stark contrast to the boy that shipped off a few months ago. She continued to stare at him until he laughed and waved his arms above his head, trying to break her out of her stupor. "Earth to Berry?" Rachel shook her head and blinked. Was he really there, just a few feet away?

"Noah?" she called out softly with a trembling voice.

Puck's entire being lit up at the sound of her voice. "Come here, little mama."

She choked on a sob as she jumped out of her seat and ran to him. Still on a high from his sudden appearance, she didn't realize until too late that she wasn't the only one making their way to him.

Rachel let out a squeal of surprise when Finn and Blaine barreled into her side and sent her down to the floor. Noah's panicked shout of her name was interrupted by a pained grunt when the two boys tackled him into a hug. The sound of her body smacking against the ground had everyone wincing as she moaned and rolled onto her stomach, rubbing at the hip she fell on while pushing herself up onto her knees. Finn and Blaine were chattering wildly into Puck's ears, alternating between asking about his time away and stories of what was happening with the New Directions. "Are you okay?" She looked up and saw Jake standing in front of her, holding out a hand for her to grab onto.

_Holy Hell_.

"Jake," she whispered. Jake smiled weakly and pulled her up to her feet, sliding an arm around her waist to hold her up. "Oh my god, Jake, are you al-"

"Would you two get off of me?!" Noah spat, shoving his friends away. "Christ, you idiots just pummeled Rachel! I swear to god, Finn, if you broke her fucking nose again-"

"I'm fine," she interjected. "I'm fine, Noah."

He pulled her away from Jake and hugged her tightly. "Morons," he grumbled against her neck. "Jesus, I've missed you."

Rachel glanced at Jake in the corner of her eye and, at his understanding nod, she wrapped her arms around Noah's shoulders and pulled him closer. "I've missed you too, big papa," she told him sweetly. "Oh my god, Noah, what are you even doing back? I thought you wouldn't be able to make it!"

He leaned back to look at her. "They told me they wouldn't need me for another week or two. Did you really think I'd sit in Colorado with my thumb up my ass when I could be here with you?"

"With your thumb up _her _ass?" Santana drawled from behind them. Rachel nearly pulled her own shoe off to throw it at the girl, but Puck distracted her when he threw his head back with a loud laugh.

"I've missed you too, Snix."

Rachel took a moment to look around the room. Although most everyone was up on their feet, excited that another friend had returned to see them, Ryder and Marley were sending Jake worried glances. The boy was standing to the side, staring at his brother. Eventually, taking pity on him, Marley stood and quietly guided him out of the room. Rachel turned back to Noah, who kept an arm around her while he caught up with the others.

How was she going to explain this to him?

* * *

"Oh my god," Noah muttered excitedly when Rachel pulled him into the empty choir room.

Since he had spent most of the day with his mother and sister before heading over to McKinley to surprise everyone, Noah had gone home with Rachel and ate dinner with her dads. With a promise that they wouldn't do anything but sleep, they allowed him to stay the night, feeling sympathy for the couple that hadn't seen each other since the summer. Of course, the promise was very quickly and very thoroughly broken, but despite the near sleepless night, they somehow made it back to the school the next morning.

"Is it finally happening? Are you finally gonna let me fuck you in the choir room?"

"Noah," she hissed.

"Schue's office? Please tell me you wanna get dirty in Schue's office."

"Would you cut it out?!" She laughed. "We went three-for-three last night! How are you still in the mood?"

The corner of his lip twitched upward. "Come on, girl. I'm always in the mood for a taste of your ripe, delicious berries." Rachel rolled her eyes and shoved him away when he tried to push their hips together. "Alright, fine. What's going on?"

"I… I have to tell you something and when I do, I need you to stay calm."

His face darkened with dread. "Oh God. Have you found someone new in New York? It's that Brody dick you told me about, isn't it?!"

"Wh-what?! Noah, no! How many times do I have to tell you that he isn't a bad guy!"

He scowled and ripped himself free from her arms. "He is when he keeps showing up to your classes and to your _apartment_. Yeah, Kurt told me about how he tried to slip you a house warming present." She slapped his hands away when he began air-quoting inches away from her face.

"He isn't trying to do anything! He's just being a good friend!"

Noah tilted his head and scoffed a laugh. "Rach, I've been 'a good friend' to girls before, alright?"

She gritted her teeth. "We're getting off topic here. I haven't found anyone new, you ass."

"Well then what's there to talk about when we have an empty choir room and a fifteen minute window between now and when classes change?!"

"Rach?"

The two broke away from their argument. If she had blinked, she would've missed the nervousness that flashed across Jake's face. After a moment of hesitation, he held his head high and walked up to them. Rachel smiled encouragingly and reached out to take his hand. She squeezed it and he smiled down at her. "Holy shit," Puck murmured. "You're dumping me for the newbie?"

Rachel threw her head back in irritation. "Puck! There's no one else but you, alright?"

"Then what's this about?" He asked, angrily waving at their joint hands.

She waited for Jake to tell her he was ready. When he cleared his throat and gave her a short nod, Rachel turned back to her boyfriend. "Noah… I want you to meet Jacob."

"Puckerman," he finished.

Puck narrowed his gaze at him then stood at attention. "That's Airman First Class Noah Puckerman, but you can call me _sir._"

Rachel hissed at the older boy to knock it off, but Jake laughed. "I think I got this, Rachel. You can go," he told her. She opened her mouth but he shook his head. "Really, I do. I'll see you later to run over those moves."

Puck grew incensed. "What moves?"

Rachel looked upward with an irritated sigh and pivoted on her heel. "He's all yours." With that, the two men were left alone.

"Maybe I should start over," Jake offered. Puck crossed his arms and waited. "My name's Jake… Puckerman. I'm your half-brother."

Noah's posture slackened and he stared at the boy in awe. Was this some kind of weird joke?

Jake rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, trying to figure out how to salvage the situation. He wasn't sure what he expected from his first meeting with Noah, but he certainly didn't think it would start off with his brother accusing him of banging his girlfriend. "Listen, man, I know that was a hard bombshell to drop so casually, but I'm not good with touchy-feely." Noah continued to gape at him, looked him up and down as if he'd never seen another human being before. "It took Mr. Schue a while to convince me to join glee but his main argument was that I had a chip on my shoulder that he could help me get rid of, one that you used to have too. And believe me, I was perfectly content with being angry with the world and shit but uh… Finn gave me a pretty good talk about you and our dick dad and how I didn't have to let his actions dictate my life and stuff… and Rach has been telling me all these stories about you and I guess I started thinking maybe you wouldn't be that annoying to have around once in a while."

The older boy's lips pressed into a tight line.

"Even though you have it in your head that you're some original badass because, let's be honest, I'm the sickest one here."

The joke didn't break the tension like he hoped it would.

"…You don't look like dad."

Jake flinched, taking it as a rejection. "No, I guess not. You do, though."

Puck nodded slowly. "It's not something I'm proud of." It didn't surprise him, though it did lessen the harshness of Puck's earlier statement. "A brother. Dad never told me about you. But now that I think about it, I do remember my parents fighting about a baby and some… slut waitress?"

Jake balled his fists. "That would be my mom," he gritted out.

Puck held his hands palm-out in front of him but grinned all the same. He was starting to see the resemblance. Turning serious, he wiped the smile off his face and straightened his posture. "I'm sorry you got stuck with the same shit dad as me."

He shrugged in return. "I've had time to think about it. If the price of being a Puckerman spawn means I get more family… doesn't seem like a bad trade-off."

"The only family I have is my mom, my sister and Rachel," Puck said automatically. Before Jake could feel disappointed, he continued. "And as much as I love them, it's been feeling pretty tiny. I've always wanted a little brother to worship the ground I walk on."

Jake chuckled. "Yeah, let's not get ahead of ourselves."

Puck smirked at him. "Hey, Rach and I are going to 'Stix tonight. You wanna come with?"

"Sure. Sounds cool."

* * *

"_Rachel? I- listen, I need you to come back to Lima. Please. I know it's a lot to ask but, but I really need- If you could just make it for just one night, or even one hour. Please, I need you. Bree's pregnant and I don't know what to do." _

She was at work when he called, and running home to pack before it was even done. She didn't have to hear about Bree to rush back home. The tone in Jake's voice was something Rachel had never heard from him. The fear, the anxiety, was so raw. All the things he usually kept hidden were all there for her to hear in that one message. She was lucky enough that this all happened before a day off, and Santana and Kurt readily offered to take over her Saturday morning shift so she wouldn't be rushed to get back to New York. After a fourteen-hour train ride to Toledo, where her father picked her up for another nerve wracking hour drive back to Lima, she said a quick hello to her dad, texted Jake, then drove to McKinley.

She didn't want to be back to Lima so soon. It was too painful, and she wouldn't have been able to return for Finn's memorial if Puck hadn't been able to go back too.

But Jake needed her.

She got there by his lunch period. Jake was waiting outside of the school for her and when she finally reached him, he hopped into her car and pulled her into the tightest hug she'd ever received.

"Thank you," he whispered against her hair. "I would've called Puck but-"

She hushed him. "It's alright, sweetie. Come on. Let's get out of here."

Rachel drove around for a few minutes, wondering where he should take him, before settling on the park. She guided him to Noah and her favorite spot, an isolated bench slightly hidden by trees and shrubbery. They sat in silence for a while, Jake staring out into space, unsure of what to say. She allowed him the time he needed to gather his thoughts, but eventually felt like he needed her to start the conversation.

"Whatever you and Bree choose to do, you know Noah and I will support you-"

"I was supposed to take her to the doctor's today. To get the baby…" He swallowed and shook his head. "But she just told me there was no need anymore because she got her period. It was a false alarm."

Rachel relaxed in her seat and let out an audible sigh of relief. "Oh. Oh thank god!" she exclaimed.

He gave her a piercing glare. "Why? Why 'thank god,' Rach? Would I really be such a terrible father? What, 'cause I'm a dick, right? I'm _toxic_?"

His outburst startled her and he jumped to his feet when she didn't respond. "Jake, wait!" Rachel grabbed his wrist before he could run away from her. "Jake, what's going on? Why would you say something like that?"

He clenched his fingers on the sides of his head. "Don't you get it, Rachel?!" he shouted, drawing attention from the people that were walking by them. She spared them a smile of apology then turned back to the boy. "I ruined everything with Marley, I'm still getting into fights, not even a girl like Bree thinks I'm good enough! I'm never gonna stop being this asshole, this jerk! All this time and energy I've put into fixing myself has been for jack shit! I'm always gonna be like him!"

"Jake..."

Jake fell back onto the bench, his head in his hands. "I don't want to end up like my dad, Rach."

Rachel threw herself at him, holding him to her chest and cooing words of comfort into his ears. "You've been doing so well, Jake," she told him softly. "I understand that almost getting a girl pregnant would scare you but-"

"No," he interrupted. "No, it wasn't just that. It was Bree. She told me all this stuff about how I'd never change. How I'm always gonna be some 'toxic' womanizer that ruins girls' lives by breathing in their direction. And I wanted to tell her she was wrong, that it was a fucked up thing to say, but she was right. I fucking cheated on Marley because she wouldn't give it up to me, Rach. What the hell kind of man am I?"

"You're a young one," she answered firmly. "That's gonna make mistakes and do stupid things. Need I remind you that your brother did a wild amount of stupid crap?"

"Please. We're two sides of the same coin," Jake muttered. "We're both gonna be fuck ups for the rest of our lives. It's the Puckerman curse." The moment the words left his mouth, he regretted it, especially when Rachel jolted away from him sharply, as though she'd been slapped.

"No… oh, no, no I'm sorry. I didn't mean that. He'd never do anything to hurt you. Jesus, I'm sorry, Rachel." He beat his fist against his knee. "See? I mess up everything I do."

"N-no," she denied weakly. "It's fine, Jake."

"It isn't! That was horrible."

She hesitated a second but nodded. "It was… but I'm a little more hurt that you would think so poorly of your brother."

"I don't," he almost whined. "I was being an idiot, saying shit I didn't mean. I swear! Puck's the best… I hate how easy it was for him to get his life on track and I can't even talk without hurting someone."

Before she could stop herself, Rachel laughed incredulously. "You can't be serious. You think it was easy for him to get his life on track?"

"I… You guys are always talking about all the awesome things he's done. Sounds like he had it easier than me at least."

"Yeah, but that isn't even half of the story!" she insisted against his stubborn refusal. "Jake, the guy knocked up his best friend's girlfriend, he slashed our competitor's tires, he went to juvie, and he nearly didn't graduate high school. He's had to work ridiculously hard for everything that life's thrown at him, and so will you. This is just one of the first obstacles you have to maneuver through, sweetie. Question is, are you gonna let it knock you down or are you going to try even harder? And if you don't say 'try harder,' I'm going to kill you."

Jake chuckled despite himself. "I'll try harder, Rachel."

"You promise?"

He drew an X over his heart. "Thank you for coming all the way from New York for me. You didn't have to do this."

She scoffed. "Are you kidding? You're family, Jacob. Come hell or high water, nothing would've been able to stop me. Besides, daddies promised to send me back by plane so I wouldn't have to deal with that long train ride again. These bags under my eyes? Your fault," she joked, nudging his side playfully.

"Oh shit. Puck's gonna kill me for bothering you," he grumbled suddenly.

"He'll be happy I came to your aid when you needed someone."

"It's just, Bree and I agreed not to involve our parents, and my mom would've killed me anyway if I told her."

"Jake! I mean it when I say that I'm happy you called me. It would've upset me more if you went through this by yourself."

He roared a sigh and ducked his head in embarrassment. "Oh my god, I hate a meltdown in front of my brother's girlfriend. This is humiliating. He's going to make fun of me forever. All that crap I said about being more badass than him, he's never gonna let me live this down."

"Tell you what," Rachel laughed. "I won't tell him a word of this, and if he finds out I was back in Lima, I'll say it was because my dads needed me for something."

Jake leaned back and gave her an exaggerated, adoring smile. "You're the absolute best, Crazy." She smacked his arm and stormed away, ignoring him when he cackled behind her. "Hey! I was joking!"

"What is it with you Puckermans giving me terrible nicknames you know I'll hate?"

"Please, you warmed up to his! You'll like mine eventually!"

"Noah's became endearing! Explain how I will ever enjoy being called crazy?!"

"Ah, come on! Don't be mad! I'll give you a different one, alright? How about Sugar?"

Her face twisted in a grimace. He couldn't possibly be comparing her to Sugar Motta, could he? "Sugar? Why, because I'm sweet like candy?"

"No, because it sounds like _meshugganah_."

"JACOB PUCKERMAN!" she shrieked. He chased after her the entire walk back to her car, his apologies drowned out by his guffaws. "You keep that up and you can walk home!"

"You wouldn't! You love me to much, sugar."

"Don't. Call me that!"


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary****: "She slowly waved the can between the pair, daring them to follow her, before turning on her heel and sprinting towards the port-a-potties outside." Had Rachel been the one to find Puck. AU from Special Education**

**Endings**

"Aw, Rachel," Noah whispered, rubbing his thumb in circles on the small of her back. "Come on, little mama. You know I hate seeing you cry. Especially if I can't beat someone up for it." He heard her choke on a laugh through her tears. "It's gonna be okay, Rach."

There were many times throughout their relationship that Puck had been able to keep his girlfriend from completely losing her mind. He convinced her that she hadn't ruined her entire future after she rigged the ballots in Kurt's favor during his run for class presidency. He helped her through her nervous breakdown when she choked during her NYADA audition. He'd supported the weird New York makeover that Brody gave her when she was lacking in confidence, sent reinforcement through Quinn and Santana when Kurt told him about some student film she was casted for that would include a _non_-tasteful topless scene, and somehow calmed her during a frantic phone call about her Funny Girl audition. He'd even talked Rachel down from going full diva on Santana when she auditioned and won the Fanny understudy. Finn had once joked that the reason Rachel had chosen them as the two great loves of her life was because they were both pretty good at reigning in her crazy, and that he won in the end because he was better at it.

But for the life of him, he couldn't stop her crying over the end of glee club.

"Jesus, Rachel, I get that it's upsetting, but you're freaking me out here," he told her, disconcerted at how hysterical she was.

"It's not like I was this sad about it before!" she hiccupped defensively. "B-but it's just so depressing! Everything we worked for is just going down the drain, and those poor kids must feel so bad right now! And why did I have to go and get into another sing off with Mercedes? This goodbye is hard enough as it is! And, oh god! Quinn!" Noah winced when she began sobbing again, clutching at the back of his uniform jacket.

Despite the meltdown Rachel was currently going through, he felt his heart clench at the thought of his baby mama. They had found Quinn in the locker room, staring at Finn's jersey. Although most of Lima was expecting Rachel to dump his sorry ass and bring life to Finchel once more, their small group of friends knew the truth and had hopes that the Inns would find their way back to each other someday.

Honestly, he could understand why Rachel was having a hard time ending the New Directions on a happy note. Their best friend wasn't there to see it off with them.

But this was a bit much, wasn't it?

The bathroom door opened and the girls walking in froze at the sight. One glare from Puck had them backing out and running away before he could tell them off. The interruption did snap him out of his thoughts, though. "Rach, maybe we can move this party somewhere else? That's the third group of girls that have walked in here."

"_You're _the one who followed me in," she accused.

His brow slanted upward and he scoffed. "Because you would've killed me if I didn't." Noah took her hand and gave it a tug. "Come on. We can go to Finn's tree and hopefully talk about this without you getting snot all over my uniform."

She stomped her foot, indignant and embarrassed as he guided her outside. "Noah! You're supposed to be sweet and comforting and telling me you don't mind things like that!"

"Right, you're my girlfriend and I love you, but do you know how off the charts my dry cleaning bill is?"

"As off the charts as your ego, maybe?" she spat sarcastically.

Noah paused and nodded appreciatively. "Can't even lie, that was a good one. Imma let that pass because you're teetering off the edge right now." He was relieved when they finally got to the tree, plopping down and pulling her with him. "Alright, Rachel. Wanna tell me why you're freaking out right now?"

Rachel crossed her arms. "Would you like to tell me why you _aren't _upset about this?"

"Of course I'm upset about this, but I'm not falling apart at the seams."

He was right of course. There was no reason to be that distressed by it, but she was. She shifted in his lap until she felt comfortable and wound her arms around his waist as she rested her head on his shoulder. "I don't know... They just mean so much to me. It helped Jake shape up. It helped Marley follow her dreams. It really hurts to know that it won't be there anymore for them." Rachel's over the top reaction was starting to make sense, he admitted to himself. Had she not become so close to their newest members, she might have taken it better. Call her self-centered or over-ambitious, but Rachel did care for the people she loved, and if they were hurting, then she was too. "I really care about them, Noah. I just wish they didn't have to go through this."

Noah softly brushed the pad of his thumb over the dry tear marks on her cheeks. "Do you even know the names of the other ones?" he joked.

His attempt to make her laugh was much more successful than his last one. The corner of her eyes crinkled and the lines in her face were there because of a wide smile, not a frown. "Of course I do!"

"Oh really?" he countered challengingly. "Name them."

"Unique!"

"She doesn't count. We knew Unique before we graduated."

"Ryder," she continued, unperturbed. "As in Jake's best friend, who I talk to on occasion."

He smirked. "And the last one?"

Rachel mocked ignorance. "Uhm… K-Kristen?" Noah barked with laughter. "Kitty. And she is _not _a fan of me. Quinn Junior indeed."

Noah hugged her closer. "What are you talking about? Quinn loves you."

"Now she does. Or do you forget when she used to call me Man Hands, Treasure Trail, RuPaul-"

"Point taken."

"…In fact _you _used to call me, Man Hands, Treasure Trail, RuPaul…"

"I said point. Taken," he repeated through clenched teeth. "Alright, Rachel, here's the plan. That building over there is filled with our friends and family. Forget what Mercedes said about her awesome career in Hollywood or whatever it was she was going on about. Everyone knows you are the baddest bitch around, which means you have to go back in there with your head held high, no tears in your eyes, and stay strong for the youngins. Because if you're looking like a puppy that just got stomped on, then that'll give them all the reason to give up too."

Rachel leaned forward and placed a chaste kiss on his lips. "How did I get so lucky to have an amazing boyfriend like you?"

Noah helped her stand before getting to his feet as well. "Why do you think everyone hates you so much? You always get the best of everything."

Instead of picking on his arrogance once more, she leaned up with a coy grin and gave him another peck. "Ain't that the cold hard truth," she murmured.

They walked back into the school together, joint hands swinging between them. Mr. Schue had asked them to meet him in the auditorium before Rachel had her mini-episode and if they quickened their pace, they'd make it just in time.

It turned out he wanted to show them Mrs. Adler and Finn's new resting place backstage. Mr. Schue had no pep talk prepared, no last minute plan to save the New Directions. It was simply a goodbye. This time, when Rachel began crying, she wasn't hysterical or gasping for air. She held onto Noah's hand and quietly wiped her tears away, trying her best not to make a spectacle of herself.

"This sucks," she whispered to her boyfriend while they followed behind the group that was slowly making their way back to the choir room.

He looked down at her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "We'll get through this, mama. We all will."

* * *

Blaine knew he was risking being vomited on by sitting in front of her, but he parked himself on top of her table, blocking her view of the mirror behind him. The heat from the lights was seeping through his jacket, and he shifted forward to escape the discomfort he was feeling. He didn't say a word though. Rachel's nerves were much worse than his perspiration. "You're sure about this, Rach?" he whispered, reaching out to stroke her short wig.

Rachel covered one of his knees with both of her shaking hands.

"_What?" Blaine gasped. "I- I'm sorry, did I just hear you right?"_

_Kurt squeezed her shoulder supportively. "If this is what you wanna do, honey…" _

_Blaine reeled back, bewildered. Sam, Mercedes and Artie weren't sure what to say. "You've only been Fanny for half a year," Artie finally spoke. "Don't get me wrong, Rachel, but are you sure this is a good idea?"_

_Rachel nodded confidently, betraying all the fear and uncertainty she was drowning in. "Do you guys remember when that big Hollywood producer came and offered me my own TV show? And you flew Puck out here to stop me from taking the offer and ruining my Broadway career? Doing something like that would've been a bad idea. This... this is right. I need to do this." _

_Blaine bit his lip and, hoping he wouldn't sound patronizing, thought over what he wanted to say before addressing his best friend. "Rachel, Madame Tibideaux isn't Will Schuester. She's not gonna hand you a second chance on a silver platter. You'll have to cry, beg, plead for-"_

"For m_y rightful spot back at NYADA, which I did."_

_That surprised them all. When Rachel dropped out of school so she could put all her focus on Funny Girl, her showdown with Carmen Tibideaux became infamous in the halls of NYADA. No one had ever spoken the way she did to Madame Tibideaux, nor did they run from a school like theirs as if staying there any longer would give them incurable, airborne diseases, but Rachel Berry was who she was. She was headstrong and determined. _

_And prideful, young and stubborn. _

_It took three months for her to realize that Carmen Tibideaux was right. She wasn't fully ready for the demands that the stage and spotlight expected from a green girl like her. It took two months more to swallow her pride, meekly make her way to Madame Tibideaux's office, and beg for a meeting. Her former dean was pleasantly surprised when what she thought would be an arrogant monologue about her successes was actually a humble apology and a plea to return to NYADA. "Miss Berry, your name is being thrown around as the future darling of Broadway. Sooner than you think you could be getting a Tony. You're really willing to risk all of that after the spectacle you made in here just a few months ago?"_

_Though she had cringed at her tone, Rachel knew she deserved it with the way she treated the woman before. _

"_Madame Tibideaux. I once told someone that I have the tendency to want everything too much. You were right. I had no foundation. I had trouble listening to my directors and always fought too hard to have things staged the way I wanted it to be. I was tempted too often to leave Funny Girl behind for something shiny and new. I need you to understand that I can never regret my time as Fanny, __**never**__. She's been my dream since I was old enough to memorize the songs and lines, but you were right. The next time I put myself out there, I need to be ready for the workload, the stress… everything, and NYADA is the only place that can give that to me. I know I have no right asking this of you… but I'm begging you for a third chance." _

_She received a call from Madame Tibideaux two weeks later to tell her she was welcomed to return. With that, Rachel gave Rupert and Sidney her month's notice. They were unhappy, reluctant to let her go, but understood and supported her decision. When her leading man, Paolo, found out, he pulled her into his dressing room, pointed at the spot on his calendar that would be her last performance and gave her a tight, one-armed hug. _

"_Get ready," he had told her confidently. "We're going to make that one your best, Fanny. No one that fills your spot will compare."_

"_So you told everyone," Blaine sighed. "That's really it then?" _

_Rachel nodded. "That's it. Rachel Berry is taking a long hiatus from Broadway." _

"I'm sure, Blaine."

He gave her a sad smile. This was entirely too emotional for them to deal with, and that was saying something for two of the biggest divas that McKinley High had ever seen. "How are you feeling?"

"Nervous," she blurted out before she could lie. "Scared. Everyone is here, Blaine. _Everyone_."

Blaine immediately knew she wasn't talking about the media hounds scattered around the orchestra seats to see their beloved Rachel Berry's final performance as Fanny. She was talking about her friends and family. Mr. Schue and Emma, her dads, Mercedes, Kurt, Blaine, and Sam would be taking up the row that her friends had occupied on her opening night. Mike, Brittany, Santana and Quinn sat just behind them and the Puckermans, including Jake and his mother, were in the row before them. Tina and Artie were in the back, and across from them, not that she knew who they were, sat Carmen Tibideaux, a soft smile gracing her stern face.

Everyone was there to see her last night, but-

"I can't believe Noah couldn't make it," she murmured quietly, a tear threatening to slide down her face.

"Don't," he panicked, grabbing a tissue and dabbing the corner of her eye carefully. "You'll ruin your makeup. Come on, little mama. You know what Puck would say."

She forced a grin. "He'd tell me to go out there and show them what they'll be missing when I'm gone."

Blaine nodded in agreement, glancing at the door when they heard a stagehand call out a five-minute warning. He got up and hugged her, pressing his lips to her temple lovingly. "Bring this house down, Rachel."

And she did. From the last word in "I'm the Greatest Star" to the way she pointed her toes in every dance number, everything Rachel did in her final performance was flawless. There was not one mistake she had to cover, not one malfunction with the wardrobe or background. Paolo and she fed off each other's energy, adding more spins and holds in "You are Woman" than they would have gotten away with if it weren't their last time on stage together. Rachel soaked in the feeling of the spotlight on her skin, breathed in the scent of the theater as she went from scene to scene. The crowd laughed at every joke and roared with applause whenever she stretched her vocal chords to reach notes higher than what was actually in the song. She miraculously remained in character until her final song, the "Don't Rain on My Parade" reprise, where she couldn't help but smile sadly and subtly wipe a tear away with the joint of her index finger while singing,

"_Let's give'em hell, Brice, we'll cry a little later._

_Well, Brice, that's life in the theater!"_

When the show was done, she caught a glimpse of the audience on their feet before the lights went down and the curtains closed in front of her.

Rachel hurried off stage and into Paolo's arms, who was watching her from the wings. Their cast mates walked around them to begin the curtain call when the curtains opened again. "You did amazing, Rachel!" Paolo shouted over the loud cheers. "Simply amazing!"

"So did you," Rachel told him sincerely. "It's been an absolute honor having you as my Nick."

Paolo, who had moments when he was a bigger diva than Rachel, grew on her and had become a good friend over their few months together. He gave her a kiss on the cheek. "And you as my Fanny, Rachel Berry." He squeezed her forearms gently before leading her to the back for their entrance. Throwing a wink over his shoulder, he waited for the actress that played Rose Brice to go off to the side then jogged out and waved to the crowd. Rachel grinned at how much louder the audience became, knowing that even now, she'd still be getting an even bigger response.

The drums rolled and she saw the cast stretch their arms out in her direction. The climax of "My Man" began blaring from the orchestra and for some reason, out of the hundreds of times she's taken her bow, Rachel suddenly felt shy as she walked on stage and was deafened by the theater. A few tears ran down the side of her face while she raised her hands up, waved to everyone and bowed. She snapped up, a huge smile on her face, and she mouthed a clear "thank you" to everyone. Through her sadness, Rachel laughed and instinctively threw an arm around her stomach to stop herself from doubling over when the house lights came on. It was done to show her that every seat was filled, but her eyes were on Sam, Mike and Jake, who were literally standing on their seats. Like sports' fans with foam fingers, her family and friends were holding up giant golden stars above their heads. Kurt and Blaine's had "THAT'S OUR BESTIE" written proudly on it in black sharpie.

Rachel sent kisses to them all and bowed twice more, and after pointing to the orchestra for their round of praise, she beckoned the others to come forward as she did every other night. Instead, her cast mates continued clapping when Rupert and Sidney came out from the wings with two very large bouquets for her. The director and producer stood on either side of her, hugged her tightly, and then gestured at her in an effort to rile the audience up. Rachel nodded her head to her director and producer, bowing to them individually. She laughed through her tears when she realized the voices in the theater did indeed increase in volume once more.

A stagehand ran out and passed Rupert a microphone, cuing everyone to quiet down. "Thank you, thank you so much for coming tonight," he began. Rupert took Rachel's hand and pulled her up to him. "As you all know, this is a bittersweet night for us. Our Fanny is leaving us to return back to college to get her degree."

This earned her another thunderous applause.

"I think I can speak for the entire cast when I say it has been a great honor getting to know you, Rachel. We had our reservations hiring someone as young and inexperienced as you were, but you sure as hell proved us wrong. It's been a privilege watching you blossom on this stage, and I know in my heart that the world will be waiting with baited breath to see what Rachel Berry has in store for us next."

Rachel cradled both bouquets in one arm so she could rub the tears off her face with the palm of her free hand. "Thank you," she murmured into Rupert's ear when he leaned in for another hug. "Thank you so much for this opportunity. I'll never forget it."

Rupert stepped back and Rachel's brow quirked up in curiosity when Paolo slid next to her.

"One last thing before we all say goodbye tonight," he announced. Paolo took her flowers and set them to the ground. "I've had the utter pleasure of playing opposite to Rachel for six beautiful months. There is no greater joy than being her leading man, except maybe... being her real-life leading man."

Everyone in the crowd nearly gasped in unison.

Rachel's face lost color dramatically. What was Paolo doing? Was he about to ask her out? Profess his undying love? He _knew _she was off the market. And wasn't he gay? At least, he seemed like he was and she always assumed…

"It's been very hard keeping this a surprise for her, our cast and crew do love our gossip," he jested.

Rachel stared at him with wide eyes and forced smile, giving him a tiny shake of her head. My God, it couldn't be... he wasn't really doing this, was he?

"We wanted this to be a special night for you and we knew it wouldn't be complete without everyone you love being here. So, we pulled a few strings, got him on a red-eye and… please welcome to the stage, Rachel Berry's leading man!"

Her jaw dropped and she whipped around to look at where Paolo was pointing.

The cast parted and there Noah stood, holding a teddy bear that was wearing a uniform to match his. Rachel's hands flew to her mouth and the floodgates burst open. All the ugly crying she had been trying her best to hide was out for everyone to see, not that she cared. She was too busy running into Noah's arms, her hands exploring every inch of his face, hair and back. He picked her up and carried her back to the center of the stage, her feet dangling in front of his legs. Rachel was sure the media would spin this reunion to be much more dramatic than it really was. She could see it now, headlines in tabloids about Rachel Berry seeing her boyfriend who had been deployed for months. She idly wondered if anyone would get it right, that he had only been at the Academy and that the tearful reaction was just because she was the overemotional type.

"You lied to me!" she accused as everyone cheered for them.

Noah smirked and kissed the tip of her nose. "You were always one for theatrics. I just wanted you to leave this stage with a bang… in every sense of that word."

She pinched his side and he waved to the crowd before letting her have her final bows.

The moment the curtain closed, she dragged him to her dressing room with the excuse that she needed to change for the goodbye party they were holding for her downtown. Only their friends had the guts to tease them for their late arrival that night.

* * *

Rachel whined and squirmed away from Noah every time he wiggled his fingers against her side. He locked his legs around hers, trying his best to stop the way she was kicking at his shins. "Would you stop?" he laughed. His amusement went ignored as she continued her struggle.

"You're the one tickling me!" she huffed, shoving him away again. All he did was tighten his grip in return. "Noah! It's too hot for this!"

"Which is why we're naked!"

"It's not helping! The body heat is too much!"

Noah rolled his eyes. "We've been away from each other all year, Rachel. A little summer sun isn't going to keep me away from you."

"But the sun is right on top of us!"

With an irritated sigh, he jumped off her bed, whipped her curtain shut and plopped back down next to her. He'd waited months to finally be with her again. So help him God if she was going to make him sit an arms length away. He roamed his eyes around her walls, scrutinizing every corner intensely. "We're going to the store later before i meet the guys, get you a god damn fan." Noah waved in the general direction of her mirror. "Put it over there or something, because seriously? It's a turn off when you're screaming about how 'hot' it is while we're fucking and not even remotely mean it in the dirty, sexy way. Which by the way, kudos to me, am I right? I'd like to see you listen to all that complaining and still keep a hard-"

"Alright!" she snapped.

Puck grinned and, after much resistance from her, finally got her to lie on top of him. Their legs intertwined once more and she reached up to play with the shaved part of his head while he drew circles on her thigh with his thumb.

"So, you're hanging out with the boys today?"

He nodded. "Hitting the town," he said through a yawn. "No worries, we aren't going to a strip club or anything." Rachel's eyes, which had been slowly closing, snapped wide open. She scowled and twisted his ear. "Ay!"

"I wasn't thinking that!"

Noah chuckled and kissed her hair apologetically. "Alright, alright. I'm sorry."

She hummed and snuggled closer. She had missed this, and so had he. It was near torture being away from each other during the school year, and the handful of phone calls and video chats had done nothing to alleviate their ache for each other. They were counting down the days till graduation, when they'd both have some rest and time for each other. Noah had already spoken to his mother about moving to New York once school was done and, although she wasn't sure she was ready to let go of her son yet, she was willing to support his decision. "Recruit personnel in NYC," he had told her. "That's what I'll start with, so I can be there while Rachel's hitting up Broadway again." When he revealed his plan to Rachel, she nearly burst at the seams with excitement. For his birthday, she had sent him a handmade countdown till the day they would be moving into their own apartment together.

"Do you know what you're doing for your third-year project yet?"

Rachel glanced up at him approvingly, happy to know he remembered. She had taken two extra classes and enrolled for as many summer classes as she could get herself back on track. By some miracle, she had done it, with As in almost every class, and was now caught up with Kurt. "Actually… Kurt and I have this one idea, and Madame Tibideaux has approved it if we somehow manage to do it…"

"Somehow manage? Oh God. You two aren't actually going to try convincing the _Wicked_ crew to let you guys perform for a week, are you? How many times do I have to tell you guys that that isn't going to work?"

"No..."

Rachel scooted off of him and sat up to look him in the eyes. He pushed himself up to his elbows and gave her a curious stare.

"No… we were thinking of going back to Lima and starting New Directions up again."

"...Are you sure you don't want to give _Wicked _another try?"

She pressed her lips into a thin line then, too quickly for him to react, reached down and tickled the bottom of his feet. Noah cackled and jolted away from her. Unfortunately, he was so close to the edge of the bed that he fell off and hit the floor hard, face down. His squeal of pain echoed around the apartment and Rachel jumped off to help him. "Oh god! Noah! Noah are you okay?!"

"I fell on my junk," he muttered. She bit her lip when she saw tears in his eyes. "Fuck... Oh god is it broken? Did I break it?!" Rachel rolled him over, ignoring the way he was groaning.

"Shh, you're fine," she told him, doing her best not to laugh. "Y-you're fine, it just hurts right now, is all. I-I'm gonna go get you ice, okay?"

"Rachel, this isn't funny!"

She threw a hand over her mouth and shook her head, but she couldn't stop her snorts. "N-no, it isn't j-just let me find a robe."

"Rachel_, _hurry!"

"What the hell is going on in here?"

Rachel shrieked and tripped over Noah in surprise when Blaine and Kurt came into her room. Puck yelped when her ankle landed right at the top of his groin. "_FUCK._"

"Get out!" Rachel screeched. "Get out! Get out! We're naked!"

Blaine rolled his eyes and came in, helping Puck back onto the bed. "Please. As if we've never seen you two naked before."

"What happened?" Kurt gaped. "What's going on!"

Rachel grabbed one of the blankets off the bed and wrapped herself with it. "Can someone get him some ice?! We can talk about what happened later!"

"This is it," Puck moaned miserably as Blaine jogged out to get him a cold pack. "I can't feel Puck Jr. We're never gonna have sex again!"

"You two seriously need to take it easy in the bedroom," Kurt mumbled through Puck's loud pity party.

She rolled her eyes. "We weren't doing anything! He fell off the bed because I was tickling him for making fun of our third-year project."

Apparently, Noah was listening. "Oh hell! Even if I do fix my dick, Sue Sylvester is going to murder my girlfriend!"

"Noah! Must you be so crass?!"


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary****: "She slowly waved the can between the pair, daring them to follow her, before turning on her heel and sprinting towards the port-a-potties outside." Had Rachel been the one to find Puck. AU from Special Education**

**Beginnings**

The Sectionals Trophy looked beautiful in their choir room. Part of Rachel wanted to believe that it was even more stunning than their Nationals Trophy.

"I know we gave that corny speech about their hard work and how we knew they could do this," Kurt began. "But…"

Rachel nodded, understanding exactly what he was trying to say. "But _we _did this too."

And they had. After months of struggling, endless confrontations with Sue Sylvester, and the doubts and insecurities of their new New Directions, they were Sectionals winners once again. Two college students had somehow turned Sue's regime upside down and steered McKinley's glee club back on track. Maybe that was why she loved the purple trophy so much. In all her life, she had never felt so damn accomplished than standing on a small stage in Ohio and hearing her team win.

"God, this feels almost as good as getting Fanny."

"Tibideaux's gonna give us an amazing grade for our third year project." Rachel grinned at him. They both knew even an F wouldn't get their spirits down. "This experience. I'm thinking about going for a master in teaching once we're done at NYADA. It just feels right. I loved it, Rach… and I'd be finishing Finn's dreams for him."

She threw an arm around his waist and dropped her head onto his shoulder as they walked out of the room and down to the auditorium. "Oh no. Should you really do that?"

He frowned. "Why?"

"I mean, is it a good idea to make you a teacher? No one else will stand a chance! Every school in the country will be fighting to have you as part of their staff."

Kurt rolled his eyes and laughed. "Tough. Look out, world. Here comes, Professor Hummel." She hummed happily in agreement. "So… ready for this?"

"God no. I've been dreading this."

"Kitty's going to throw a fit," he warned her. Rachel smirked. Somehow, in their time back in Lima, Kitty Wilde had become quite a close friend. Kitty was all ambition, cut throat in getting what she wanted, and when she saw the same spirit in Rachel, could not help but fall for the Berry charm herself. In no time at all, Kitty was defending Rachel's opinions, siding with her over Kurt when it came to song choices and choreography, and inviting herself to visit her in New York once they had to return to school. "I don't get how you do it. Quinn, Kitty, _Puck_. It's like you wave a magic wand and all the assholes and bitches suddenly turn from the dark side."

Rachel clicked her tongue. "Kitty was always nice. Deep inside… very deep. World's biggest sinkhole deep."

"Nonetheless she'll freak. Do you think she'll cry? I heard she bawled when Quinn left after that first Thanksgiving break we had."

"Probably not. They already know something's up. It's never a normal glee meeting when it's at the auditorium. Kitty's probably set herself up for bad news."

The sarcastic remark Kitty called out when they walked into the auditorium proved her right. The New Directions were all sitting scattered around the stage, the former Warblers occupying most of the available seats so as not to dirty their trousers. The blonde cheerleader, however, was standing at attention, her arms crossed and her eyebrow raised. "So, can I guess the dramatic speech you're gonna give us this time?" she asked. "Has our choir room burned down and now we have to crawl to Carmel with our tails between or legs, begging them to let us join Vocal Adrenaline?"

The uniformed boys sent her dirty looks, not that she noticed. "We didn't beg for anything," one of them grumbled.

Rachel gave her a disapproving shake of her head but Kitty just grinned at her. "Well? What is it, teach?"

Mr. Schue rushed down the opposite auditorium entrance, panting when he reached them at the stage. "Sorry. Am I late?" he questioned the two mentors, who shook their head and took a spot on either side of him. "Good… good. Alright, guys. Rachel and Kurt have something they have to say to you."

Kurt nodded. "As you know, Rachel and I were supposed to stay for another month or so to start preparations for Regionals."

"Supposed to?" Jane said immediately. Her lips turned downwards and she began to look sadder by the second. "You aren't staying?"

Everyone erupted into loud protests and questions. Rachel held her hands up and waved them in the air, motioning for them to settle down. Although some listened, most were still throwing in their two cents about the revelation. "But you promised!" Kitty whined. "What are we going to do without you?"

The brunette smiled at Mr. Schuester and placed her hand on his shoulder as a response to Kitty's question. "I think you guys are forgetting that we're leaving you with the man that brought us to Nationals. It's not that we want to leave, but exam schedules have been pushed up two weeks earlier."

"Which means, the whole schedule had to be fixed," Kurt explained. "Our project presentations have been moved to the end of this month and we have to go back to discuss everything with our advisor."

"We'll be back in time to watch you guys for Regionals," Rachel swore. "And we'll be there when you guys make it to Nationals."

"This sucks," Mason pouted. "We've been with you guys from the start. It'll be so weird without you." Jane patted his thigh, but the downtrodden expression on her face said she felt the same way.

"Please, two weeks with Mr. Schue and you'll be glad to be rid of us," Kurt snorted. "He's the best. Kitty can back us up on that. Not only will he be like your favorite uncle, but believe you me, you'll be getting another Nationals win with him."

Rachel tried not to snicker when she noticed the man getting misty-eyed. She cleared her throat and brought her attention back to the group in front of her. "The point is that Kurt and I, as much as we hate it, _are _going back earlier than we thought we would but we're so proud of you guys. We'll miss you all so much." Kitty shoved Rod and Spencer out of her way when they moved forward with Madison to hug their mentors. Rachel let out a startled "oomph" when the girl threw herself at her, hugging her tightly around the waist. She laughed into Kitty's shoulders and rubbed her back comfortingly. "Oh, come on. I give you full permission to hate me again. Would that make it easier to let me leave?"

"Shut up, Berry," Kitty mumbled embarrassedly. "Don't forget us small people when you get back to New York and all those Broadway producers are begging you to dropout of NYADA again."

"You're acting like you wont see me in a few months at Regionals," she teased. "But I promise you'll be the first name I drop in my 'thank you' speech when I get my first Tony. After my director and producer… and my dads and Noah. And Mr. Schue. And Kurt and Blaine-"

"Oh, just shut up," she repeated with mock anger.

Kurt pulled Rachel away from Kitty, much to the cheerleader's annoyance. "Anyway, guys. To say sorry, Rachel and I decided we'd throw you all a party at her house."

Rachel grinned with a nod. "Dad and Daddy are away on vacation, something about taking time to rekindle the romance," she told them with a roll of her eyes and a gag. "So, my house is free and we can party all night, _but_ we don't want it to be our goodbye party, because this isn't a goodbye. This is a celebration of New Directions' comeback!"

Once the last bell rang, everyone was headed towards Rachel's house. True to her suggestion, they stayed until very late, singing karaoke and munching on all the food their hosts had got for them. At the end of the night, Rachel and Kurt were sitting in the corner, watching their mentees with tiny smiles on their faces.

"I'm gonna miss being with them every day," Kurt confessed.

She sighed and nodded in agreement. "We did good, didn't we?"

"I can't imagine how Blaine is going to top this for his project next year."

* * *

Noah tore the last page off of the "Puckleberry" Countdown Calendar with a smile. It was decorated with bright colors, balloons and confetti drawn around the words "Moving Day!" His heart leapt as he traced his fingers over the letters.

"Noah! Where are you?! If you think I'm going to carry _your _things up these stairs-"

Puck rolled his eyes and jogged out of their bedroom. Rachel was standing in the middle of their living room, her arms crossed and her foot tapping impatiently. Boxes and furniture lay askew around their empty space, surrounding her irritable form. He ignored her glare and waved the page in her face.

"We finally made it, mama."

Rachel bit her lip through a smile and took the paper from him. She read the words over then pressed it against her heart. Their parents and friends were downstairs, helping them take the rest of their things out of the moving van. They were alone for the first time in twenty-four hours, and though they knew someone would be up to interrupt them soon, she was euphoric enough not to care. Noah caught her in a hug when she lunged forward and smashed their lips together. He stumbled back into the wall with a bark of laughter. Unable to stop himself, he picked her up and flung them both onto the couch a few feet away. His hands were just about to tear her shirt off when they heard someone clear their throat at the door.

"Can't you wait until we're gone to christen the apartment?" Blaine snorted.

Mrs. Puckerman stood behind him, glowering at her son. "Noah Puckerman, you get off poor Rachel and come downstairs to help with the heavy lifting."

Puck gaped at them, then scowled. "_She _jumped me!" Mrs. Puckerman clicked her tongue, marched in, and twisted his ear. "Ow! O-ow, shit, ma! Let go!" She pulled him up by his lobe, pinching him harder despite his pleas. "Jesus Christ! What the hell?!"

"You would blame your libido on poor Rachel?!" she spat.

"Why do you always call her that?! She's worse than I am!"

"Noah," Rachel gasped. He turned to her and saw the mischief in her eyes. She wouldn't dare… "I understand you're a bit _frustrated _right now, but to make me look like I was keeping you from helping everyone out?"

It was all the woman needed to hear. She shrieked and shoved Noah into the hallway. "Why she puts up with you, I'll never know!"

"Ma!"

Rachel giggled cheekily when the Puckermans disappeared while Kurt came in through the door. "That was so mean, Rachel," Blaine scolded, though he couldn't hide his amusement.

She waved it off dismissively. "He knows I'll make up for it tonight with wild, freaky sex. Is everything out of the van?"

Kurt gave her a thumbs up. "Your dads are already heading back to U-Haul to drop the truck off. Jake and Sam are coming up with some more of your stuff. So, what'd you do to Puck this time?"

"Let his mom think he tried to molest me instead of carry boxes up," she said casually.

He scoffed, bending down in front of the mirror leaning against the wall. "I don't understand Mama Puckerman. How can she be so blind to how evil and lascivious you are?"

"I made her 'whore of a son' settle down," Rachel stated flatly. "I could kill a man in front of her and she'd still swear I did no wrong. And I'm not evil!"

"I don't know, Rachie," said Blaine over Kurt's mutterings of how she didn't deny her lecherousness towards Puck. "That was pretty horrible what you did. He's gonna get an earful from her now."

"And again, I'll more than make up for it tonight," she answered brightly. Just then, Jake and Sam came into the apartment, panting as they carried her armoire in. "Careful!" she shouted when they dropped it with a thud. Jake gave her a disbelieving yelp and Sam huffed indignantly.

"I'd like to see you carry that up five flights of stairs!" the blond argued. "We could barely hold it up anymore!"

"Seriously," Jake groaned. "Of all the apartment buildings in New York, you two decided on the one that didn't have an elevator."

Rachel turned her nose up at them and went to Blaine, who threw a supportive arm around her waist. "I'm going to ignore your negativity because nothing can get me down today. We just graduated. Noah and I are finally moving in together. I've been called to audition for three different shows-"

"_Wicked_," Sam interrupted.

Jake rolled his eyes. "And the _Guys and Dolls_ revival."

"And _Wicked_," Sam said again.

"And _The_ _Fantasticks!_" Kurt squealed excitedly, missing the sarcasm in Sam and Jake's tones.

"And did she tell you guys about _Wicked_?"

Rachel slapped the both of them when they neared her. "Jerks," she grumbled. Noah walked in next with a box in his arms, his mother behind him with a much smaller one in hers. "Noah! Jake and Sam are making fun of my auditions!"

He narrowed his gaze at her, ready to spit an annoyed retort but a kick to the ankle from his mother stopped him immediately. "Knock it off, assholes. And go back down before someone steals the rest of our shit," he said instead, still glaring at his beaming girlfriend. Mrs. Puckerman brushed passed him and set the box on the couch. After Puck had done the same, he pulled Rachel out of Blaine's embrace and into his own. "I hate you, you know that?" he whispered furiously.

"Now that's not true," she sniggered. "Why would you be moving in with me if you hated me?"

"She spent the entire way down the stairs and up telling me how I need to be a better boyfriend. _'How would you like it if someone treated your sister like this?'_" He hissed, mimicking his mother's voice. Noah rolled his eyes, thinking of the girl who had insisted on going with the Berrys to drop the moving van off, knowing they'd get her some sort of present on the way back. "Like Jake would ever let Rebecca out his sight long enough for her to get a boyfriend."

Rachel glanced at Jake, who just disappeared down the hall once more with Sam and Blaine. Whenever Puck's mom was working a double shift, Jake would pick his sister up from school to babysit her. It didn't take long at all for him to grow to love her as much as Noah did and soon enough, he was taking his brotherly duties very seriously. Not that loving Rebecca was such a hard task. Rachel's dads absolutely adored her and were the first to spoil her with gifts. Even Jake's mom would insist on joining her son when he took her out.

"She's reaching that age, you know?" Rachel warned. "Rebecca's a teenager. You two won't be the only men in her life anymore."

"Like hell," he said immediately. "Bex is too good for this world. There's no doucher out there that Jake and I will ever approve of."

She tried to hide her chuckle. The irony of the situation was too much for her to handle. Jake and Noah, the biggest womanizers of their teen years, were trying to shield their sister from sex-hungry boys. "Speaking of Bex, I hope her and daddies come home soon. Looks like your mom is already putting our kitchen to use."

Puck looked over his shoulder and saw his mom taking pots and pans out of their boxes and washing them at the sink. He had noticed the grocery bags lying on their counter, but had assumed Rachel was already trying to stock their fridge and pantry. "So, she's the one that went food shopping."

"She said she wanted to cook for us as her housewarming present. Something about her baby boy missing her homemade dishes now that you aren't living with her," Rachel teased.

Puck could've blushed. He poked her side and looked around to make sure no one had heard her. "Would you lower your voice? No one knows she calls me that!"

"Oh don't be embarrassed, baby boy!" she exclaimed. "I think it's so cute! I mean, I know you certainly love it when she calls you baby boy, right baby boy?"

He shoved her away irritably. "Rach, would you-"

"Baby boy?" They whirled around to look at Jake, who had dropped the boxes he was holding onto the floor. The boy stared at them before falling against the doorway and laughing hysterically. "B-baby boy?!"

"Jake," Puck growled. "Shut your fucking mouth right now or I'll-"

"You'll what, _baby boy_?" Jake mocked.

Before Puck could answer, Mrs. Puckerman appeared at his side with a large smile on her face. She reached up and patted Jake's cheek lovingly. "I hope you're hungry, Jakey bear." The smirk melted off of Jake's face and reappeared on his brother's. "You boys have been working so hard, I'm cooking dinner for you all tonight. Go on and help your brother move some stuff around, and then I'll call you guys when dinner is ready. Sounds good, Jakey sweetums?"

Jake swallowed roughly and forced a smile. "S-sure, Mrs. P."

She winked as she passed Noah, showing she had overheard the way Jake was making fun of him. Noah kissed his mother's cheek gratefully. "Well? You heard my mom," Noah snickered. "Let's at least set the table up so we have something to eat on, Jakey sweetums."

"Shut up, Puck," Jake griped, humiliated.

Soon enough, the table was set up, Rebecca and Rachel's fathers were home, and dinner was nearly done. Most of the boxes were moved to the side and the furniture in their living room was moved to exactly where Rachel wanted them. The rest would be done once everyone was gone and Puck and Rachel were alone to debate where everything should be placed. "Well?" Mrs. Puckerman called from the kitchen. "Go on and sit at the table!" Everyone wrestled for the remaining spots at the four-chaired table after Noah and Rachel sat down. In the end, Puck got up so that Leroy and Hiram could sit and Jake shoved everyone aside to give Rebecca the remaining chair.

"Take the stool," Blaine told Puck's mother, bringing the stool over and setting it between Rachel and Rebecca. "It's only right that you get the seat since you cooked. The rest of us can eat on the couch."

She smiled, appreciating the gesture as she grabbed paper plates and served the boys. "Just don't get any stains on the upholstery, dear." When Noah came up for his, she eyed him approvingly, proud of the way he gave his seat up to Rachel's fathers. Understanding the look she was giving him, Puck rolled his eyes, snatched his plate and went back to the table. He forced Rachel out of her seat, sat down on it, and then pulled her onto his lap. Mrs. Puckerman clicked her tongue loudly, scowling at her son.

"Noah!" Rachel whined as she shifted on his lap uncomfortably. "How are we supposed to eat dinner like this?"

"Why you stay with him, I'll never know," Mrs. Puckerman sighed then loudly called, "Noah, you stand up right now!"

He shrugged in response. "I'm comfortable here."

"Well I'm not," Rachel laughed, shoving his shoulder lightly. "What the heck is in your pocket? It hurts to sit on!" The corners of his lips pulled into a wide smirk and snorted into her shoulder when she realized how poorly worded her question was. She looked at their parents, horrified, and yelled at the others when they began to cackle at her expense. "Th-that's not what I meant! There really is something hard in his pocket!"

"You're telling me," he quipped, bouncing her slightly. Rachel screeched and slapped her hands over her face. Even her fathers were laughing at her. Mrs. Puckerman came up behind him and slapped the back of his head lightly. "Ma! Keep hurting me and everyone will think I was abused as a child!"

"Oh, you no good little- Noah Puckerman, did our talk about being a better boyfriend not get through to your thick head? And your poor sister is sitting there, having to listen to your filth!"

Rebecca blushed, looking as if she wanted to argue that she'd already heard most of these jokes before, but thought better of it and turned her attention back to her food.

"Yeah, Puck," Jake said pityingly. "Even I wouldn't make a sex joke in front of my girl's dads. That's like, asking to be killed."

"Are you gonna come sit with us or not?" Blaine asked, hoping to sway the conversation in a direction that would no longer embarrass Rachel.

Puck shook his head firmly. "If she's so uncomfortable, she can reach into my pocket and get it out herself." The boys roared with laughter once more.

Rachel leapt off his lap with a growl. "Oh honestly!" Puck stared at her with a brow raised. "Well?! Are you gonna get up or what?"

He stood from the seat and jutted his hip out at her. "Be gentle."

"Puck, would you just shut up already?" She was too annoyed to see Leroy and Hiram give each other excited glances. Rachel glared at his pocket as though offended by it, looked around at everyone who was watching her, then shoved her hand inside, ignoring the way Noah was snickering. "Shut it you," she groused. "Of all the childish things to make me do, on our moving day of all days, you childish, inconsiderate-"

Her words caught in her throat and she let out a strangled breath, whipping her hand away from him. She held it to her chest like it had been burnt. Noah gave her a teasing smile. "What's wrong, bud?"

Rachel shook her head disbelievingly. She had to be mistaken. It must have been her imagination, her mind playing tricks on her.

There was no way she had felt a square, velvet box sitting in his jean pocket.

"Noah," she squeaked, tears instantly springing to her eyes. "Wh-what? Was that a…" He placed his plate on the table and took the box out of his pocket. Mrs. Puckerman gasped behind her and Rebecca squealed excitedly. Somewhere in the direction of their living room, Rachel heard Kurt and Blaine asking each other if they knew he had planned this. "Noah…"

Noah kneeled in front of her. As if realizing there was a chance she could deny him, he felt all his confidence drain from his body while he brought the box up and opened it in front of her. There, inside, sat a very simple but beautiful diamond ring. "Rachel." His hand shook nervously as he watched a tear stray down her face. "I know a girl like you deserves a proposal on a Broadway stage or in the middle of Central Park with a huge flash mob, something huge like that… But I'm asking you right here in our new home where we're about to start another part of our life together, here in front of our friends and family… I'm asking you right after I may have humiliated you in front of our friends and family." Rachel let out a teary laugh. "Would you… I mean will you…"

Mrs. Puckerman was crying behind them, hugging Rebecca to her chest. The others chuckled quietly at Puck's attempts at proposing to her.

Finally, after another few tries at getting the words out, Rachel took pity on him, leaned down and pulled him up by his forearms. She didn't reach for the ring or hold her hand out so he could slide it onto her finger. Instead, she cupped Noah's cheek, stood on her toes and gave him a gentle, passionate kiss.

"Yes," she whispered against his lips. "Of course I will."

* * *

Jake shook his head at Santana when they noticed Puck fiddling with his tie _again_.

"Dude. It's centered," he drawled. "Leave it alone already."

His brother glared at him. "It wasn't straight. You'd have seen that if you weren't staring at yourself in the mirror. Christ, maybe I should've worn my uniform. I look so stupid with this tux on."

"You look great," Blaine chimed in cheerfully from behind him.

"I look like a jackass!"

Kurt rolled his eyes. "You've worn a tux before, I don't know why you're suddenly freaking out about it now."

Puck growled with frustration. "Because it's my wedding! I have to look perfect! Rachel's gonna come down the aisle looking like a damn goddess while I'm standing in the front looking like a jackass!"

Sam frowned. "Quit saying you look like a jackass. Jeez, Puck, would you stop already? You're being ridiculous."

He and the others went ignored as Puck went into a full-blown rant about how they "didn't understand" and were "being insensitive on today of all days." They glanced at each other, hoping they didn't look as exasperated as they felt. When Tina came in, asking Artie to take a picture with her, they jealously watched him roll out of the room, having escaped Puck's ridiculous behavior even for a few minutes.

Had anyone said Rachel was going to be the flexible one during wedding planning, they all would have laughed as though hearing the funniest joke in a century. Rachel Barbra Berry was the one woman who would want everything done her way or not at all. So, of course, everyone was rather shell-shocked when Puck had suddenly taken the crown of Bridezilla while Rachel frantically tried her best to accommodate him and add her own ideas into the wedding at the same time. The girl herself didn't mind at all, just happy to be marrying her high school sweetheart, but their family and friends were concerned by the way Noah was turning into, well, a diva. This was a Puck none of them had ever seen. Demanding and absolute in his desires, the word "chill" no longer seemed to be in his dictionary.

"Won't you be glad once this is over and he's like, Puck again?" Quinn had asked Rachel.

The Broadway star merely smiled euphorically and shook her head. "I think it's cute. He's just acting this way because he wants the ceremony to be perfect for us. He wouldn't be like this if it wasn't important to him."

Unfortunately for Noah, Rachel's unwavering patience with her him was now wearing thin. The enclosed canopies that the bridal and groom parties were waiting in were obviously not sound proof and Rachel could hear Noah screaming from her own tent.

"What. Is. Happening?" The bride seethed. Mercedes and Quinn stepped away from her wearily. Brittany's brows popped up as she leaned n the direction of Puck's shouting to hear what he was saying. "Is he losing his damn mind? Our guests are less than fifty feet away from us! They're probably wondering if he's trying to run away right now! You boys promised you'd keep him calm today!"

Artie, who had just finished taking a selfie with Tina, bit his lip and shrugged. "We're trying Rachel, but he's still flipping out over every little thing!"

Rachel gritted her teeth and hoisted her dress up around her calves. "Wait, where are you going?" Quinn asked, rushing to follow her as she stormed towards the canopy's opening. She gripped the layers of fabric in one hand and shoved the canvas away with the other. The guests gasped when they saw her angrily marching towards the groom's tent, all her bridesmaids hurrying behind her. "Rachel!" Quinn cried desperately. "He can't see you in your dress! Just come back, we'll-"

"NOAH. PUCKERMAN."

The furious bride damn near brought the entire canopy down as she shoved herself through the entrance and pushed Noah's groomsmen out of the way.

Puck's rant finally died down and his livid features softened when he saw her. "Rachel… Oh my god, Rach, you look-"

"_What the hell do you think you're doing?_" she hissed at him.

Blaine pressed his lips together tightly, hoping beyond hope that he wouldn't laugh at the sudden fear that had taken over Puck's face. He glanced at Rachel's maid of honor and saw that Kurt was in the same position as him. In an effort to save his friend from embarrassment, he stepped beside Puck and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Now, Rachel, Noah was just getting a little jittery about-"

"A little jittery?" Rachel snarled. Kurt, seeing she was about to attack the two men standing in front of her, wrapped an arm around her waist and held her against him. "Half of Ohio can hear him yelling!"

"Mama," Puck began pleadingly. "It's just- the tie looked… and the guys were being-!"

"I don't care what the guys were being or whatever the hell was wrong with your tie," she fumed. "I don't care that you wanted _my _bridesmaids to wear a shade of blue that matched your uniform, which you aren't even wearing. I don't care that you insisted a cascading bouquet would look better for me than the round one I wanted. I don't care that you've been keeping Kurt with you even though he's my maid of honor! What I care about is that you're still going insane when we're getting married in less than five minutes!"

"Rach, just-"

"Don't you _Rach_ me!" she cut in, pointing an accusing finger at him. "Now you listen to me, Noah Puckerman. It doesn't matter if there's something wrong with your tie, or someone is sitting in the wrong seat, or the flowers aren't the right color-"

Noah's jaw dropped. "The flowers aren't the right-?!" One look from Rachel silenced him once more.

"You could be standing up there naked, you imbecile and I'd still want to marry you! Now would you calm the _fuck_ down and just be happy that I still want to be your wife after the nonsense you've put us all through for the past year and half?!"

"Holy shit," Jake breathed. "Rachel just dropped an f-bomb."

Puck stared at Rachel for a moment before shooing her away with a smile. "Get out of here, Rachel. Don't you know it's bad luck to see the groom in his tux?"

She laughed and leaned in to kiss him on the cheek. "I'll see you up there."

"I love you," he whispered against her ear then watched her walk away. When Kurt and the bridesmaids were finally gone, Noah looked around at his remaining crew. Blaine, Jake, Sam, Artie and Santana were all waiting for his cue. "Alright guys… let's do this."

He led them out, made sure they lined up in the right order with the bridal party, then waited for the music to start before heading down the aisle with a beaming grin on his face, which only grew wider when he saw Rachel staring at him as though she saw her world in his eyes.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary****: "She slowly waved the can between the pair, daring them to follow her, before turning on her heel and sprinting towards the port-a-potties outside." Had Rachel been the one to find Puck. AU from Special Education**

**Years Gone By**

Puck could practically feel Rachel rolling her eyes when he scooted closer to her and spooned her from behind. He cooed her name and wrapped his large arm around her chest, pulling him to her so he could kiss the back of her neck. "No," he heard her state flatly. Exasperated, he threw himself onto his back and kicked at the covers like a child in the middle of a tantrum. It had been a month and a half since she'd even let him _think _about having sex with her and he was starting to get antsy.

"Why not?" he whined.

"Because my back hurts!"

Noah sat up and glared at the swollen bump on Rachel's body. "This is all the runt's fault."

Rachel reached behind her and tugged him back down to hug her again. ""Don't blame the innocent baby, Noah!"'

"Fine! This is all _Klaine's_ fault. Convincing you to have their god damn spawn."

"You agreed to it!" she laughed. "You cried when they asked us. _'Y-you want Rachel to be your surrogate? I-I… guys that's so beautiful, I-'"_

Noah glared at the back of her head. "We agreed never to mention that! And they're lucky I said yes, you know? Most guys would've told them to hit the fucking road, but no. I gave my wife's firstborn to our best friends."

"And they love you even more for it," she assured him, kissing his hand lovingly. "You know, it'll be any day now… this baby's gonna pop right out and then you and I can start working on our own family."

"Psh'yeah right. Sorry, babe, but I totally started paying attention in health class after Quinn. We're gonna have to wait another damn month before we can start getting freaky again or else your hoo-ha will never heal."

"My hoo-ha?" She snorted. "How old are you?"

He pinched her side and made her giggle. "Seriously though… I love you being super pregs. I can't wait until it's our kid in there. Like God damn, woman, your boobs are huge."

"Noah Puckerman!"

"I'm joking! I mean they are, but I'm joking!"

"Keep talking like that and I'll never let you touch me agai-"

Rachel sat up with a gasp, her hand flying to her stomach. Noah looked up at her from where he was laying. "Rach? You good?"

She took a while before answering him. "Noah."

"Yeah?"

"I uh… well, I thought they were just Braxton Hicks, but that one _really _hurt."

He stared at her in disbelief. "Wait have you been having contractions this entire time and just decided not to say shit?"

"You know how high my pain tolerance is!"

"How long was the last one before this?!"

"Uhm, well… near thirty seconds, maybe?"

"Jesus Christ, Rachel!" Noah shot out of the bed and began pulling pants over his boxer briefs. He ran to their dresser, hurriedly shoved a shirt over himself, and then threw clothes over his shoulder to his wife. "Put that shit on! Where the fuck is the hospital bag?! Where the fuck are my car keys?!"

"Noah, just calm down!"

"Calm down?! You're going into labor!"

"I could be wrong! This could still be false labor, I-" She winced and stared down between her legs. "Okay, not false labor. My water just broke."

"_Jesus Christ!"_

"Noah!" She shouted. "Is this the way you're gonna act when it's our child? Just breathe! I'm okay!"

"You have the nerve to lecture me at a time like this?!" Rachel got up from the bed, ignoring the way that Noah was running around their townhouse like it was on fire. She grabbed her cellphone off the nightstand, calmly searched through her contacts and hit the "call" button when she found Blaine's name. It rang three times before he picked up.

"_Hey there, mama bear!" _the boy sang through the receiver. _"How's our little bun in the oven?"_

"Well," she chuckled. "Fully baked and ready, I think."

Blaine choked and coughed harshly. _"Are you serious? It's time?"_

"It's time, Blaine. Noah's looking for his keys right now to drive us to the hospital."

"_Oh my god… Oh my god! We'll meet you guys there, okay? Kurt! Kurt, the baby!" _

Her phone beeped, signaling that Blaine had hung up on her. With an excited squeal, she grabbed her hospital bag from the closet and waddled towards the stairs. "Oh no you don't!" Puck, who had appeared from behind her, swept her off her feet and carried her down. "I don't want you exerting yourself. Save all the energy for the pushing because you're gonna need it." Instead of scolding him for babying her, Rachel simply swung her arms around his neck and snuggled closer, gripping him tightly when another contraction hit her. "You alright?" he asked, unbothered by the way her bag was bouncing against his the top of his back.

She nodded against him. "Pushing through, Noah."

"Damn, I hope you're this chill about it when it's our kid."

Rachel grinned. "Of course, I will be! I must look my best through every performance, Noah, even a birthing."

* * *

"Oh _god_," Rachel cried. "It hurts! It hurts so bad! Just- just push it back in! Push it back in!"

Noah snorted behind the hospital mask he was wearing. Because of a slight complication, Baby Klaine, as Puck insisted on calling his goddaughter, was born through C-section. The recovery pain was a bitch, but Rachel had yet to experience what birthing could really feel like. Despite her best efforts and maintaining a smile on her face, she damn near lost it at the hospital and begged for any and all drugs they could give her.

"Honey," he told her soothingly. "We're almost there, Rachel. Just a few more pushes."

She shook her head desperately. "Noah, I can't! You do it for me."

He couldn't hide the laugh that came out of him this time. "Come on, sweetie. You're Rachel Berry, star of stage and, as of next year, screen. You can do anything, including giving birth to our baby. This is fucking cake, Rachel."

She sobbed through a cough of pain. "Can't I just keep him in there for a little bit longer?"

"Alright, seriously, keep whining and I'm out of this room," he threatened.

Rachel bit her lip and nodded. "Okay. Okay…"

"Are we ready again?" the doctor asked.

"Yes," Rachel whispered.

And so she pushed, and she screamed, and she pushed again until finally the loud, piercing cry flooded the room.

"Oh my god," they both breathed simultaneously.

Puck steadied his shaking hand so he could cut the umbilical cord, though it took him a minute because he couldn't stop staring at his baby's scrunched up face. "That's my son," he whispered to the nurse, whose eyes crinkled when she smiled at him. She nodded her head in Rachel's direction, which he took as his signal to head back to his wife. "He's beautiful, Rachel," he murmured, a lone tear forcing it's way out of the corner of his eye. "Thank you… Thank you." Noah brought her hand up and nuzzled it against his cheek. When their baby was cleaned and swaddled, another nurse brought him over and passed him gently into his mother's arms.

Rachel swallowed the lump in her throat and bit her lip to keep from sobbing all over her newborn child. "Hi," she murmured to him. "I'm your mama."

She laughed quietly, her gaze flickering up to Noah who smirked at her. "You did it, little mama."

"I sure did, papa."

* * *

"We're gonna be late!"

Noah clicked his tongue irritably. "We aren't going to be late! Just finish your make up already so we can get in the car!"

"Don't you snap at me, Noah Puckerman!"

He rolled his eyes, his handsome three year old giggling at him. "Why do we stay with your mommy, huh, J-dog?"

Jonah grinned toothily. "I love mama!"

Noah nodded emphatically. "Oh yeah! That's why we stay!" He bent down in front of the boy and tugged the small jacket onto him. "Now I know you hate this monkey suit, I hate them too, babe, but you can't wiggle out of this one alright? We gotta look good for the cameras… and mama's gonna kill me if you pull your bowtie off so don't do that either."

"It's tight," the boy whined.

"Alright, alright, I'll fix it, but no touching afterwards, got it? Now, here's how tonight's gonna go. We're gonna take whatever pictures people want us to take. You're gonna sit on my lap, _no squirming_, like the good boy I know you are. We're going to play nice with your mama's douche ex because he's her director so we have to pretend to like him. Then, when mama wins her first Tony, you and I are gonna scream so loud-"

"Noah, you know better than to jinx me like that," Rachel huffed as she rounded the corner and patted his head lightly. Puck scowled and jumped in front of the mirror to make sure she didn't mess his hair up.

"Oh shut it, Rach, you and I both know you're gonna win that Tony. The damn vice president knows you're gonna win."

Rachel scoffed. "Sue Sylvester does not think I'm going to win."

"Then why is she sitting in Schue's apartment to watch the fucking Tony's?"

She lunged at their son and covered his ears. "Don't curse in front of the baby!" she hissed angrily. Jonah stared up at them curiously.

Noah smiled innocently, escaping from his wife's fury when he heard the doorbell go off. "Finally! I was wondering whether these assholes got the date wrong or something."

"Noah!"

He whipped the door open to find Blaine and Kurt beaming at him, little Klainette bouncing in Blaine's arms. Mercedes stood just behind them. "Where's Tartie?"

"It's Artina," Tina stated from somewhere behind them. The girl pushed her way through her friends, sighing happily when she finally caught sight of Noah. "Hey, Puck. Good seeing you again. Mind helping Blaine get Artie up the steps? Jonaah! My little Joney Bear!"

She sidestepped Puck and hurried to the tiny boy, elbowing Mercedes when the other woman followed her quickly and tried to grab Jonah first. Jake, Roderick and Kitty, who came a few minutes later, said joyful hellos to their old friends before mingling with Rachel's stylists. After making sure their friends were settled and had everything they would need, arguing with Jake that "no, you can't keep Jonah with you tonight," and passing exchanges of "break a leg" and "wish me luck," Noah was carting Rachel towards their limo, an excited Jonah clapping his hands at the sight of it. It didn't take long for them to get to Radio City and do their walk along the red carpet. Rachel, who never did enjoy having their family photos plastered on magazines, had pity on the photographers and gave them much more time than she usually would have allowed before tugging on Noah's hand and guiding them into the theater.

They sat next to Jesse St. James, who shook Puck's hand despite the glare he was being given. Rachel and Jesse shared a knowing chuckle and she rolled her eyes and apologized for her husband's behavior. Puck passed their son to her and Jonah squirmed in Rachel's lap as more and more people trickled into the theater. She tried to calm him down, her nerves already on the fritz, but soon enough the show began. Jonah settled and watched in awe as performers appeared from every direction. He clapped excitedly and giggled every now and them. Rachel, in the midst of her nervousness, gave Noah an amused smile. Number after number was performed on stage, countless commercial breaks passed, when, finally, Andrew Rannells came up to the microphone and announced the nominations for "Best Actress in a Musical."

Her breath caught in her throat when she heard her name and she felt Noah take her hand in his, squeezing it tightly.

"And the Tony goes to…"

"No matter what he says, you're the real winner, Rachel," Noah whispered into her ear.

Rachel felt her heart skip a beat and her senses dull as she turned to her husband and stroked his cheek before leaning her head down onto his shoulder. She didn't see the way his eyes lit up with glee, nor did she see Jesse jump out of his seat next to her. "Oh, Noah. I love you so much. I don't care that I lost."

"Rachel, are you deaf or dumb?!"

She reeled back and gaped at the man. "Nice! Very romantic, you unbelievable-"

"Mama, you won! You won!"

Rachel looked around, thunderstruck, and saw everyone on their feet clapping and grinning at her. "I- what?"

"Go! Go!"

She jumped to her feet, catching Jonah who lurched forward with her. She climbed over Noah and was nearly halfway down the aisle when she realized that the boy was still in her arms. Smacking her forehead, she ran back and passed him to his father, who grabbed Rachel for a kiss before pushing her back towards the stage. Most everyone was laughing at how frantic and confused she looked, and Andrew gave her a hug once she reached him.

"Me?" she asked him. His laughter fed into the microphone and he nodded.

"Yes, you!" He told her, giving her another hug then passing her the Tony.

She stared at it in disbelief and looked around her, wondering if Willow Smith was behind her, ready to shout out "sike" and grab it from her.

Finally, realizing that she wasn't being pranked, she gave the audience a huge grin as tears began pooling in her eyes. "Thank you! O-oh my god, thank you! I want to thank my amazing director, Jesse St. James and… and my two dads for all of those singing and dancing lessons. Okay, I…" She took a deep breath and began again. "I want to thank Carmen Tibideaux at NYADA for giving me a second chance at my degree and to all my friends at McKinley High," She thought of them all sitting in her living room, or wherever the rest where around the States, probably freaking out that she actually won.

Rachel saw that, although everyone was sitting again, Noah was kneeling in the aisle, holding on to a fussy Jonah who was trying to run up to his mother. "Um, but I want to dedicate this award to my husband and my son, who came here with me tonight. To Noah, who never let me give up when auditions got hard or when I started doubting myself and, and Jonah, baby, mama did it!" She waved down at them and the audience laughed when Jonah jumped up and down at the sound of his name.

"And really quickly, I know I've been up here for too long already but I also want to dedicate this award to the person who's responsible for getting me on this stage tonight, and that is Mr. Will Schuester…" And, standing in the spotlight she had dreamed of since she was just a child, Rachel let the waterworks go as she spoke to her beloved teacher over the camera.

Before she got off stage, she looked up and closed her eyes, soaking in the applause with a smile. _"This was for you too, Finn_," she thought to herself, then walked off with Andrew Rannells still congratulating her by her side.

* * *

"My, my, if it isn't megastar Rachel Berry. Fancy seeing you here."

Rachel threw her head back with a laugh, swiveling around on the piano bench to grin at the man standing in the choir room doorway. "David."

Karofsky smirked at her as he strode in and nudged her gently so he could sit next to her. "You know it feels like just yesterday that you ran me back into a locker and shoved a can of fucking pepper spray at me."

"You deserved it," she responded firmly, though he saw a playful glint in her eyes. "So, your one week New Directions membership gave you an invitation to our little auditorium dedication ceremony, huh?"

Dave hummed back just as teasingly. "I'd like to think everyone has also realized that I've seen the error of my ways and have changed into a better, nicer man."

"A better, nicer man who has a man of his own I believe, or has Blaine and Kurt's rumor mill failed me once more? Are you actually dating that… hoodlum?"

"Oh come on, Berry," he chuckled. "You gave me a second chance, didn't you? Give him one too. You might be pleasantly surprised. He's actually a sweetheart."

"That _sweetheart_ temporarily blinded my best friend," Rachel scowled. "You deserve better than him."

He actually blushed. "I, well… enough about me. Where's _your _man?"

"Why, Karofsky? Thinking of shoving me into a porta again?" They turned to see Puck standing at the door, Jonah next to him with his arms crossed and a glare on his face. "Because I gotta warn ya, if you think Rachel went batshit for me, wait till you meet her son."

"Language!" Rachel gasped angrily, racing over and picking the boy up into her arms. Jonah's face immediately softened and he giggled when his mother kissed the smooth skin on the side of his head.

"Holy hell," David breathed. "You _actually _let Puck give the kid a mohawk?"

"No," she stated flatly, Puck flinching when he noticed the look he was sending her way. "I was away filming for three weeks and came home to my son's…" Jonah was staring at her with his eyes rounded and a smile stretching his lips. "… handsome new makeover," she finished, defeated. "My daddies found it charming but Mama P nearly tore Noah a new one."

"He's gotta learn the trade early, Rach, I explained that already," Puck sighed, as though tired of going over the same lecture with a misbehaving child.

"The trade?" David asked. "Of what? Being a badass?"

Noah's eyes lit up and he gestured in his former teammate's direction. "See! Karofsky gets it!" Rachel rolled her eyes, opting to stroke the strip of hair running down the middle of Jonah's head. "So, Davey, Blaine told me that you're dating that douche canoe Smythe."

"Noah, for the last time! Would you watch your language in front of our highly impressionable-"

"He starts assing around, you tell me and I'll handle it, got it?"

David's brows rose so high they nearly touched his hairline. Part of him was happy to know that his friendship with Puck was suddenly heading back on track, but another much larger part of him knew that Puck would use any reason to punch Sebastian. "Thanks, Puckerman. I'll keep that in mind, though I think you'll be waiting quite a while to pick a fight with Boo-Boo."

"With who-who?"

Dave grinned goofily. "Boo-Boo? He calls me Yogi Bear."

Puck pulled a face. "Gross."

He laughed heartily. "I'll see you guys at the auditorium, yeah?" With that, he walked out and left the family alone in the choir room.

"You know, you should be nicer to him," Rachel suggested. "After all, he is the reason we got together in high school."

Noah snorted, pulling Jonah out of her grasp and hoisting his son on his hip. "I mean if you want to see it that way, sure. He's just lucky that he isn't as big of a dick as he used to be."

"Noah Puckerman!"

"Relax, Rachel! The kid's six, I was saying these words way before I was six."

Jonah rolled his eyes, pinching his Noah's bicep. "You know better than to argue with mama, dad. Stop being a douche canoe."

Father and son guffawed loudly, their laughter echoing around the halls as they raced away from Rachel and towards the soon-to-be Finn Hudson Auditorium. "Jonah Riley Puckerman! Noah, look what you've done with our innocent child! Leather jackets, mohawks, _cursing! _If you two think you're going to get away with this, you have another thing-"

"Hold on tight, babe," Noah ordered the boy. "Your mom runs pretty damn fast when she's angry."

"Hurry!" he squealed back.

They caused a scene when they finally burst through the auditorium doors, the row of their family and friends staring at them in wonder as Rachel scolded and berated them the entire way up the stage steps and behind the curtain.


End file.
